The stretch of Second Street between Second Avenue and the Bowery is normally a relatively quiet one (take it from someone who grew up there). But not last night, when a three-alarm fire broke out at 21 East 2nd Street on the South Side of the block. It took 140 firefighters to get the fire, which started around 11:30 p.m., under control. According to an eyewitness things started to calm down around 1 a.m. " when flames were no longer licking the sky."
The FDNY says the fire was out by 1:30 a.m. The cause of the it is still unclear, but it appears the blaze started on the second floor of the West side of the building (next to the NYU dorm, which was evacuated. It then spread up the fifth floor of the building, apparently through an air shaft.
"I couldn’t breathe, there was so much smoke," resident Sherouk Hafiz, who lives with his family on the fourth floor, told the Post.
Two firefighters suffered minor injuries and were taken to a hospital for treatment. The Red Cross is currently offering temp housing for 30 adults and four children who lived in the building.
