Our building collapse attorneys have written before on the dangers of fire-related structural collapse injuries to firefighters and others. Even after a fire has gone out, the danger doesn’t go away. Compromised structural connections and support timbers weakened by heat and flame could give way at any time, trapping victims in the rubble.
On Wednesday, just a block away from the famed Yankee Stadium, an historic building belonging to the Grand Concourse Preservation Society in the Bronx, NY caught fire. The six-alarm fire in the multi-unit residential building led to a complete evacuation of the structure.
The fire initially erupted in an apartment in the back of the building on the sixth floor, and then quickly spread to other units and to the attic. The blaze throughout the attic led to a partial roof collapse. The more than 200 firefighters that responded to the spreading inferno faced difficulties fighting the blaze due to the intense heat and dangers from the partial structural collapse.
A chief from the NYFD estimated that at least one third of the building’s 180 units are no longer livable. Investigators are looking into the cause of the destructive fire. 28 firefighters and 2 civilians suffered injuries in the catastrophe. And many residents of the building, displaced by the fire, are currently receiving some aid from the Red Cross.
Learn more about the injury and fatality dangers of fire-related structural collapses in this detailed article by our experienced building collapse attorneys.