Talk Bronx New York

New York City officials are investigating a fire that burned a classroom at a vacant junior high school in the Bronx.

Fire marshals are investigating the blaze at P.S. 143. The cause is under investigation but fire officials say it’s suspicious.

Firefighters had the blaze under control at about 8:40 a.m. The blaze damaged a first-floor classroom in the five-story building near the Jerome Park Reservoir.

No one was hurt. More than 1,000 students attend the school for grades 6 through 8. City school officials didn’t immediately comment.

SOURCE: NYDailyNews.com Read more..

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02/04/2008 

5 Alarm Bronx Fire Leaves 12 Businesses Devastated 

Firefighters in the Bronx had to battle a gigantic inferno Monday morning that threatened dozens of businesses.

The 5-alarm fire broke out just before 8 in a laundromat on the corner of Lydig Ave. and White Plains Rd., in the Pelham Parkway section of the borough.

It spread quickly, engulfing 12 stores and causing a partial building collapse.

“I’m sad. In 21 years this is the worst I ever seen,” said pizza shop owner Salvatore Lisanti. “I feel bad for the rest of the people.”

Lisanti’s pizzeria was spared from the blaze, but neighboring stores including a flower shop, a jewelry store, and a Sleepy’s were not so lucky, burned beyond recognition.

“Being out there watching the fire, they did a great job, but they struggled,” said Anthony Lisanti.

At least 200 firefighters from 44 units took to the scene, battling stubborn flames and thick smoke filling the skies over Pelham Pkwy. The MTA was forced to suspect service on the 2-trai in both directions for hours.

Surprisingly, no resident had to be evacuated from apartments behind the row of stores, but firefighters used the building to fight the fire from another angle.

“I found out at 8:30 the stores were on fire. I wasn’t expecting anything like this,” said Gregory Glenn, who owns Adams Jewelers, which was gutted by the fire. He, like many others in the tight-knit community are devastated by the loss, but comforted that no one lost their life.

Five people were hospitalized with smoke inhalation, however, and one was listed in serious condition.

There is no word as to what started the fire.

SOURCE: WCBSTV.com

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Capt. Bill Connolly of Engine 48 at his firehouse on Webster Ave. in Fordham; the firefighter is a three-time bone marrow donor.

Spotlight on Bronx People: Bill Connolly’s charity gets to the marrow

FDNY Captain Bill Connolly jokes that the New York Blood Center must have his number on speed dial.

Connolly, assigned to Engine 48 in the Bronx, is one of only 18 people in the world who have donated bone marrow three times to three different patients.

“I was surprised. Most people don’t get called ever,” he said.

Connolly was honored for his repeated readiness to donate at a New York Blood Center awards ceremony at the Waldorf-Astoria last month.

Dr. Robert Jones, president of the center, said it is rare for a bone marrow donor to match patients three times and rare for a donor to agree to donate multiple times.

Donating bone marrow requires local anesthesia before the marrow is withdrawn through several points on the pelvic bone and a few days of recovery pain.

“He’s not only been called three times, but he’s also stepped forward and saved people’s lives. That’s quite a heroic attitude,” Jones said.

Connolly first registered as a donor in 1990 in response to the call of a fellow firefighter whose sister was ill.

“It’s an extension of being a firefighter,” Connolly said. “If you’re a firefighter, you want to help people. If someone needs help we’re there, off duty or on duty.”

Donors who are matched to a patient and undergo the procedure are taken off the registry for three years. Connolly, who has donated within the past three years, said he hopes to be called again when he’s back in rotation.

“I hope I match more people,” he said. “I’m more than willing to do it and hopefully some lives can be saved. It’s a great feeling.”

Vital Stats

Best part of donating: “The potential to save somebody’s life.”

Hardest part of job: “Losing friends.”

Hardest part of donating: “Not having it work out.”

Bio bits: 42, born and raised in Suffolk County. Was a New York City Transit police officer for four years before realizing fighting fires was a better fit for him. “I would rather fight fires than chase criminals. It’s more rewarding as far as I’m concerned.” Has been a military reservist for 25 years. Lives in Eastport, L.I., with his wife, Doris, son, Liam, 14, and daughter, Erin, 13.

Favorite food: Guinness

Favorite place in the Bronx: Engine Company 48

Favorite leisure activity: Fishing

Favorite vacation spot: Camping with my family

SOURCE: NY Daily News

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Hero officers Lloyd Blackburn (l.) and James Treadwell with Luisa Abreu and her two kids, whom the cops saved from an inferno in their Bronx building.

Fire sparked on E. 147th St. building’s fifth floor and quickly ripped through the hallway.

Two NYPD officers save three children from burning Bronx building

A pair of unflinching NYPD truancy officers raced into a burning Bronx building Wednesday and pulled three children to safety - as shattered glass and smoldering plaster rained down from the roof.

Officers James Treadwell and Lloyd Blackburn realized they could not wait for backup as they drove up to the inferno at the five-story walkup just after 11 a.m.

“As we come up to the building, there were flames shooting out of the windows,” said Treadwell, who had been flagged down by a terrified passerby.

“There were huge flames,” the 17-year NYPD veteran said. “There was debris coming down.”

The fire had sparked on the E. 147th St. building’s fifth floor and quickly ripped through the hallway, witnesses said. Because the building’s smoke detectors failed, several residents were unaware their lives were in danger, the cops said.

“We saw it, and we thought about the people inside,” said Blackburn, an 11-year veteran. “We just had to get them out.”

Luisa Abreu, 26, was watching her two children in her second-floor apartment and talking by phone with a friend on the fifth floor - and neither woman had any idea their building was burning, she said.

“No detectors went off,” said Abreu. “The only reason I knew about the fire was that the officers were banging on the doors and walls, screaming, ‘Fire! Fire! Fire!’”

When Treadwell and Blackburn reached Abreu’s home, they scooped up the panicked woman’s year-old son, Jovi, and 4-month-old daughter, Jamie Lynn, and ran out of the building.

“He grabbed my son and ran through the fire,” said Abreu, a hostess at a midtown Outback restaurant. “Fireballs were falling from the roof. … They almost hit me.

“If it wouldn’t have been for the officers, I would’ve still been inside with my children.”

The cops then ran back into the building to save another child, she said.

Firefighters arrived moments later, helped other residents evacuate and battled the intense two-alarm fire. The blaze was declared under control at 12:10 p.m.

One tenant and six firefighters were taken to hospitals for treatment of nonlife-threatening injuries, officials said.

SOURCE: NYPD

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