Jennifer Millman

Faulty Electrical Wiring Caused Massive Bronx Blaze that Injured Six, Including Baby: Officials

At least six people were hurt in the blaze at the six-story complex on McClellan Street; one of the injured was a baby

What to Know

  • Fire officials say faulty electrical wiring caused a fire in a Bronx building that injured a baby and five firefighters
  • At least six people were hurt in the blaze at the six-story complex on McClellan Street; one of the injured was a baby
  • Officials say the fire started in ceiling wiring above a grocery store on the ground level and quickly spread to the apartments above

Fire officials say faulty electrical wiring caused a fire in a Bronx building that injured a baby and five firefighters.

The Red Cross offered shelter and food to dozens of families displaced after Monday's blaze in the five-story building in the Concourse Village neighborhood.

None of the injuries was life-threatening.

Officials say the fire started in ceiling wiring above a grocery store on the ground level and quickly spread to the apartments above. A smoke alarm in the first apartment did not activate but alarms went off in other apartments in the building.

The seven-alarm fire tore through the apartment building on McClellan Street Monday early Monday, injuring at least six people, including a baby, and leaving more than 120 people homeless, fire officials said. 

Five firefighters were also among those hurt in the fire at the six-story complex, though all of those victims were expected to survive. The injured baby is thought to be around 9 months old. 

The fire broke out around 5:30 a.m. and quickly intensified, extending into every floor and up into the roof. By 8 a.m., it hit seven alarms and was declared under control shortly thereafter, the first several floors totally charred and gutted by fire. About 250 fire and EMS personnel responded to the blaze, which apparently broke out in a first-floor supermarket, authorities said.

The FDNY released drone footage that showed more than a dozen firefighters on the roof of the towering complex, white smoke drifting all around them. 

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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