A three-alarm fire tore through the top floor of a Manhattan building Tuesday afternoon, prompting firefighters to cut holes in the roof to put out the flames.
As the FDNY worked to knock down the fire at the six-story 393 E. 37th St. in Tudor City, broken glass from the top floor rained down onto the fire escape below, according to a witness.
Resident Melissa Wade said she was sitting in her kitchen when she heard the glass shatter.
“I see glass falling onto my fire escape,” she said. “I could see into the apartment with the fire. I grabbed my coat and ran out. It was pretty scary.”
No one was reported as injured but 133 FDNY personnel responded after the flames broke out just before 3:45 p.m., Deputy Chief Brendan McSweeney said.
“The fire went beyond the ceiling and the roof level and had a chance to move across the empty space,” he said.
Henry Tao, 50, has lived in the building for 12 years and was on the fourth floor.
“We started to smell gas, the brining, and suddenly we heard the fire department call,” Tao said. “They broke the window on the sixth floor.”
“I’m really overwhelmed and don’t know what to think, it’s very scary. What can you say?”
