By Gus Saltonstall
A major fire broke out early Thursday morning on the Upper West Side, bringing more than 130 firefighters to the scene, an FDNY spokesperson told West Side Rag.
The flames initially ignited about 1:30 a.m. on the third floor of a brownstone at 128 West 95th Street, FDNY said. The fire also expanded to the roof of the building, the department added.
The brownstone is currently under renovation and vacant, but a firefighter suffered minor injuries. A total of 138 firefighters responded to the blaze, and were able to get the flames under control by 4 a.m., FDNY said.
A nearby resident, who chose not to provide their name, told the Rag that they watched as the firefighters cut the roof open to allow the larger flames to come out, before quickly getting a hose up to the roof and quelling the fire soon thereafter.
Fire marshals are investigating what caused the blaze.
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Happy 2024! Year already starting out with too many fires!! Will the construction company be held iable for this disaster?? So many other buildings under renovations in the neighborhood this is frightening!!
How do you know it was the construction company? I didn’t read that.
Fire occurred at 2am and began on second floor. No one is doing “construction” at that hour.
Cause of fire likely IMHO will be often what it always is with such buildings; squatters, homeless or others were using building for shelter and something went wrong.
Yikes! This explains some of the ‘action’ in the area last night! I hope all impacted will be okay, and the firefighter recovers fully and quickly. Glad no one was home at the time! Hopefully the neighbors on either side (and behind?) are okay!!
Wow that brownstone has been vacant for years!
That’s not the one that has been vacant for years. 130 (next door) has been vacant for years. So there were no “neighbors” home since the adjacent building to the west has been empty for years and to the east is the school. Hopefully there was no damage to that building at all.
No there are brownstones on both sides. I saw it this morning and the one next door to the east had almost every window broken.
Yeah, I realized that right away and tried to edit the post but I kept getting a message that said I was posting to quickly… But 130, the one to the right, is most definitely empty.
Why is this story categorized as “crime”?
Why are these brownstones on 95th Street all vacant? Can’t someone clean them up and develop them in this prime neighborhood or the city will turn them into homeless or drug shelters.
there are schools on the block and there are a lot of children. what would be the benefit of aiding a more brugs and more violence on the streets.
That stretch of West 95th has an interesting and rich history.
https://www.nytimes.com/2001/12/23/realestate/streetscapes-west-95th-street-between-columbus-amsterdam-avenues-block-where.html
130 West 95th looks like a case of person or persons biting off more than they could chew real estate wise.
https://www.realtyhop.com/property-records/search/130-west-95-development-llc
https://streeteasy.com/building/130-west-95-street-new_york/house
Neither 128 nor 133 West 95th appear to be “vacant”.
One could conclude contractor negligence. Not the first time nor will it be the last. Look at what happened at the Dwight School.