An 83-year-old man was killed and several other people were injured in a pair of Manhattan fires Wednesday morning, officials said.
The first blaze erupted in Midtown around 8:15 a.m. inside a DSW Designer Shoe Warehouse at 213 W. 34th St., where an escalator became fully engulfed in flames — sending smoke billowing into the first and second floor and the interconnected 40-story hotel building, fire officials said.
It was not immediately clear which hotel it was.
Five firefighters suffered minor injuries putting out the blaze.
“The fire went out, but we have a smoke condition that we’re trying to alleviate,” FDNY Battalion Chief John Porretto said at the scene. “Units are going to remain on scene until all the smoke alleviates.”
The fire marshal will determine the causes of the fire.
A second blaze broke out 15 minutes later on the Upper East Side at 1576 2nd Ave., officials said.
A three-alarm fire at 213 W. 34th St. in Manhattan. NYFDPolice identified the man who died as Louis Lajos Drexler. A second man, who is 81-years-old, was in serious condition at Lenox Hill Hospital, cops said.
A firefighter suffered minor injuries battling the blaze and was taken to Cornell Hospital, fire officials said.





