An early morning blaze sent Harlem residents fleeing for their lives early Saturday, a little more than 24 hours after a firefighter was killed fighting flames further uptown.
The latest fire broke out just before 1 a.m. on the corner of East 103rd Street, at 2000 2nd Ave., a four-story building with a deli, church, cell phone store and apartments.
Christopher Sadowski“We ran for our lives,” said Valeria Celon, 16. “My neighbor saw smoke coming up from the hole where the heating pipe is. She was screaming, ‘Call the police! Call the police!’”
Residents yelled to alert each other about the flames, pressing buzzers to make sure everyone got out, said Celon, whose family grabbed their beagle, Bella, and pet rabbit before fleeing.
“It was chaos. People were running with their pets. My neighbor was wearing shorts. She wrapped her baby in a blanket and ran,” Celon said.
Authorities, fearful the building is unstable, hadn’t let anyone back inside as of midday Saturday.
“Right now it’s not safe for anybody to go in there. There is extensive damage to every floor in the building, particularly the first floor and the top floor,” said FDNY Battalion Chief Frank Leeb.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
It took firefighters about four hours to get the four-alarm blaze under control.
The East 103rd Street fire erupted a little more than 24 hours after Firefighter Michael Davidson, a married father of four, was killed battling a fire on a St. Nicholas Avenue movie set.
