1 dead, several injured in Upper East side apartment fire in New York, fire responders reach scene

A deadly three-alarm fire tore through a six-story Upper East Side apartment building Monday night, killing one person and injuring seven others, and drawing more than 130 firefighters to the scene. The blaze ignited around 7:15pm inside a unit on the fifth floor of 526 E. 82nd St., quickly spreading to neighboring apartments, the floors above and below, and the space between the top-floor ceiling and roof, FDNY officials said. Within 30 minutes, the flames had escalated to a three-alarm emergency.

Roughly 138 fire and EMS personnel battled the inferno, with the FDNY’s robotics team deploying drones to survey the building from above. Assistant Chief of EMS Paul Miano confirmed that one victim died, another person was injured, and six firefighters suffered minor injuries, mostly from smoke inhalation. Authorities have not released details about the deceased, including whether they were a resident.

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FDNY Assistant Chief Tom Currao said between eight and ten of the building’s 23 apartments were damaged. Firefighters tore down sections of walls to ventilate the roof and conducted multiple searches through the night as they sifted through debris. The flames were largely knocked down by 9:15 p.m., as curious onlookers crowded nearby streets.

Displaced residents, many wrapped in emergency blankets, sat on the sidewalk as smoke lingered in the cold night air. Kate Connors, 23, who lives on the second floor, recalled hearing frantic shouts to evacuate. “We opened our door, smelled smoke, and saw flames coming through the window,” she said. “We grabbed our phones and just ran out," was quoted saying to New York Post.

Connors, who has lived in the building since August, claimed the woman from the unit where the fire began blamed faulty electrical wiring that the landlord had allegedly ignored. Another resident, Matthew Meyers, 32, also fled his second-floor apartment after hearing banging and shouts of “Fire!” in the stairwell.

“The first responders were super quick,” he was quoted saying. “Once I was outside, I saw flames bursting from a window near the top of the building. It was pretty scary.” Many residents sought shelter in the lobby of a nearby building as temperatures dropped overnight. The FDNY remained on-site late into the night, and it was unclear when tenants would be able to return to their homes. Operations at the scene are still ongoing.