NEW ROCHELLE, NY — A woman has died as a result of a Five-Alarm fire at a small commercial building near New Rochelle City Hall, according to New Rochelle Fire Chief Andrew Sandor.
“Once the fire gets into the cockloft it just travels the whole building with nothing to stop it,” said Sandor. “they’re trying to open holes up and get water directly onto the fire.”
One firefighter was taken to the hospital with a cut on a leg.
The fire sent massive plumes of smoke billowing into the cloud-covered sky early this morning.
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New Rochelle firefighters were called to the scene at about 6:30 a.m. this morning. Flames were through the roof with heavy smoke.
The fire started on the north side of the building. It got into the cockloft and spread across the entire top of the building. The roof caved in. HVAC units fell through onto the second floor.
The second floor back corner of the building houses a Superintendent’s apartment. A woman lived there alone.
A second and third alarm quickly went out. New Rochelle firefighters were assisted by firefighters from Yonkers, Pelham and Eastchester responded. Firefighters from Greenville, Larchmont, Mount Vernon were standing by in New Rochelle firehouses. Larchmont Ladder was later called to the scene.
2 Hamilton Avenue is mostly office space on the second floor with store front businesses on the first floor. For many years the New Rochelle Federation Of United School Employees offices were located on the south side of the second floor but they moved out two years ago. Other businesses include Kumon Math and Reading Center, New Rochelle Karate, and Ground Floor Coworking.
Nuzzi Paint Contracting has an office on the second floor.
“I’m a painting contractor so I have stuff in there, customers wallpapers,
“It looks like a total loss,” said Frank Nuzzi. “That’s the way it’s looking now, you know, it’s gonna definitely be smoke and water damage. So I’m just hoping I could retrieve some of my files and stuff, you know. 30 years of stuff.”
“There was a girl you know, the super lives in the building. Judy,” said Nuzzi.
Clarissa Sinceno was distraught, unable to reach her friend Judy on the telephone.
“Judy takes care of the building,” said Sinceno. “She feeds all the animals.”
“Where the fire is, is where, it looks like where her house is.”
Sinceno side Judy is the superintendent for the building and had an apartment on the second floor of the building. She said Judy parked her car on Buford and the car is still there.
The building had been slated for development by adding four floors to the existing building as a 6-story mixed use development with 56 residential rental units, ground floor retail space on North Avenue and off-site parking at a nearby location.
New Rochelle Alert: Because of ongoing efforts to control a building fire at Hamilton Avenue, North Avenue in the vicinity of City Hall, as well as several nearby streets, will remain closed to traffic into the late afternoon or evening. Detours are in effect, and we urge motorists to avoid travel in this area, if possible. In addition, water pressure citywide may be temporarily affected until fire fighting operations conclude.
New Rochelle Fire Chief Andrew Sandor: “Fire is knocked down at this time. All mutual aid companies have packed up. New Rochelle firefighters are still on scene so we still have mutual aid people covering our fire houses for us. Our deepest thanks to them. We will be watching out for hotspots through the evening. We had 4 firefighters injured: 3 went to the hospital and one was treated and release on scene. One with a cut leg and three with smoke inhalation. Thank you to Larchmont, Eastchester, Yonkers, Pelham, White Plains, Greenville, Fairview, Hartsdale, Mount Vernon.
RELATED:
Five Alarm Fire at 2 Hamilton in New Rochelle Leaves 1 Resident Dead, 4 Firefighters Injured
New Rochelle Police Identify Victim of Fatal Five Alarm Fire
This block on Hamilton Avenue has terrible luck. Back in 2016, the home directly behind this building burned down: https://talkofthesound.com/2016/07/18/fatal-3-alarm-fire-guts-home-across-from-new-rochelle-city-hall-1-dead-3-injured/