At least 19 people including nine children were killed in a horrific five-alarm fire in a Bronx apartment building the morning of Jan. 9 with officials calling it one of the worst fires in recent memory. According to a report in The New York Times, the fire started just before 11 a.m. Sunday in a duplex apartment on the second and third floors of the building on East 181st Street. Officials said that the fire was caused by a malfunctioning space heater.
Severe Smoke Inhalation Injuries</strong
Firefighters who arrived at the scene encountered a wall of smoke as high as the 19-story building and described the smoke conditions in the building as “unprecedented.” They also said a number of victims had suffered from severe smoke inhalation injuries. Fire crews entering the building found victims on every floor and were taking them out in “cardiac and respiratory arrest,” the Times reported. Sixty-three people were injured and 13 people were hospitalized in critical condition, the Associated Press reports.
Several residents also said the fire alarms in the building frequently malfunctioned. One resident on the third floor told the Times that the fire alarms in the building raised false alarms five or six times a day, and residents usually ignored them. Some victims were trapped in stairwells and others were found in their apartments. Most residents of the apartment building are low-income, immigrant families from Africa and Latin America, according to reports.
We offer our deepest condolences to the families of all the deceased victims here. Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone who has been affected by this tragedy.
Worst Fires in City’s History
Fire officials said the door to the apartment where the fire started was left open, which helped fuel the fire and allowed the smoke to spread everywhere. The 120-unit apartment building was built in 1972, city records show.
Officials also said this fire reminded them of the fire at the Happy Land nightclub in 1990 in the Bronx, which killed 87 people. In that case, the club had no sprinklers and several exits were blocked off with roll-down security shutter. The deadliest fire in New York City’s history dates back to 1911 at the Triangle Shirtwaist Company factory in Lower Manhattan in which 146 people died.
Responsibility of Property Owners and Managers
The New York City Housing Maintenance Code requires property owners and/or property managers to provide, install and maintain smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors in each unit. Not only should these life-saving devices be present, but they should also be in good working order. Properly installed and maintained smoke alarms are considered to be one of the best and least expensive means of providing an early warning of a potentially deadly fire. Smoke alarms can reduce the risk of dying from a fire in your home by almost half.
Property owners and property managers have a responsibility to ensure that their buildings are maintained to code requirements and that the installed smoke alarms and sprinklers are in good working order. When a fire is caused by negligence (carelessness) or a lack of property maintenance, the property owners and/or property managers may be held liable for the injuries and loss of life that occurs. Injured victims or families of deceased victims can file a premises liability claim against the responsible parties including, but not limited to, the property owner, property manager, maintenance/repair company, etc.
Injured victims in such cases can seek compensation for damages including, but not limited to, medical expenses, lost income and benefits, permanent injuries, disabilities, past and future pain and suffering, etc. Families that have lost loved ones can file a wrongful death lawsuit seeking compensation as well.
Contacting an Experienced Lawyer
If you or a loved one has been injured in a fire or explosion, the experienced New York personal injury attorneys with the Law Offices of Kenneth A. Wilhelm can help you better understand your legal rights and options and also fight hard to recover just compensation for you. For 50 years, our skilled attorneys have established a proven track record of assisting injured victims. One of our clients — a hot water burn victim — secured $750,000 in damages from the property owner and manager.
Our firm also obtained a $985,000 settlement out of a $1 million policy for two people who suffered smoke inhalation injuries because the homeowner did not have smoke detectors installed and the $15,000 that was left on the insurance policy was for a person that we did not represent. Another client recovered $2,500,000 due to a faulty space heater. Also, one of our clients obtained a verdict for $43,940,000 and another of our clients got a verdict for $23,500,000, both in medical malpractice cases.
Please contact us TOLL FREE 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at 1-800-WORK-4-YOU (1-800-967-5496). WE CAN EVEN COME TO YOU. There is no attorneys’ fee unless we recover money for you. We can also help with personal injury and/or medical malpractice cases in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, or Florida. If you have been seriously injured in any of the 50 U.S. states, please call us and we will try to help you with your case.
Other TOLL FREE phone numbers for us are:
1-800-RADIO-LAW, 1-888-WYPADEK, OR 1-800-LAS-LEYES
Please visit us at: www.WORK4YOULAW.com
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/01/09/nyregion/bronx-fire