Dozens Displaced After Fire Tears Through Bronx Building
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Dozens of people are homeless after a fire tore through a Bronx apartment building Sunday night.
Peter Mena's childhood home, the apartment that he shared with his mother and wife, has now been destroyed.
"We lived here for over 50 years, so it's hard," he told CBS2's Janelle Burrell.
Mena said it was around 8 p.m. Sunday when he got a frantic call from his mother inside the five-story building at 1038 Southern Boulevard, telling him their floor was in flames.
"I fly over as fast as I can and see the whole top floor engulfed," he said.
His 83-year-old mother managed to escape as firefighters worked to get others out.
It took crews nearly two hours to get the fire under control. Images from the scene showed flames consuming the fifth floor through a window and shooting through the roof.
Exclusive surveillance video of the blaze showed a woman being dragged away from the scene by firefighters. In all, 20 families were forced out of their apartments.
"My son, cousin, everybody scared," said resident Eliazar Barron.
John Bonizio was also forced out of his ground floor eyewear business, where surveillance video captured the flooding inside.
"I was watching wires coming out of the ceiling and the ceiling falling down, a lot of water," he said. "It's been a nightmare ever since."
Housing inspectors are now working to determine whether the building can be saved as residents try to focus on what they haven't lost.
"Everyone in the building is safe and alive that's a holiday right there," said Mena.
For now, many of those displaced are staying with family members as they start to look for permanent arrangements.
The 85-year-old woman who was taken from the scene suffered from smoke inhalation and is listed in stable condition.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
