THE SCENE AT 3435 Dekalb Avenue in Norwood, The Bronx Aug. 20, 2026. V1

Four people incurred minor injuries following a fire in the Norwood section of The Bronx on Thursday morning, Aug. 20. An FDNY spokesperson said they received a call at 5.49 a.m. for a report of a fire at 3435 Dekalb Avenue between Kossuth Avenue and East 208th Street on the top floor of one of the structures which makes up the three-building, multi-story residential complex at the location.

 

THE SCENE AT 3435 Dekalb Avenue in Norwood, The Bronx Aug. 20, 2026. V2

The FDNY said the first call came in for a report of smoke on the top floor of the affected building and that it came in from a building located across the street. (North Central Bronx Hospital is located across the street.)

 

According to the FDNY, the 4-alarm fire was located on the 6th floor and in the cockloft (the space between the ceiling and the roof) and 74 units, comprising 231 fire and EMS personnel responded to the scene.

THE SCENE AT 3435 Dekalb Avenue in Norwood, The Bronx Aug. 20, 2026. V3

FDNY officials said there were four casualties: two minor injuries to civilians and two minor injuries to firefighters, and that all four were transported to area hospitals. Operations continued throughout Thursday morning at the scene. Residents from all three structures at the location were evacuated.

 

THE SCENE AT 3435 Dekalb Avenue in Norwood, The Bronx Aug. 20, 2026. V9

Some workers at North Central Bronx said they were not evacuated from the hospital but that due to the fire unit response and some other street closures for resurfacing by NYC Department of Transportation (DOT), some employees had difficulty accessing the building and getting to work.

 

THE SCENE AT 3435 Dekalb Avenue in Norwood, The Bronx Aug. 20, 2026. V10

During a press conference held at the scene later on Thursday morning, FDNY Deputy Assistant Chief Paul Miller said units arrived quickly. Norwood News asked the FDNY if the road closures for resurfacing mentioned above affected FDNY access to the area and will share any updates we receive.

Miller said complicating the response was the fact that the building had “blown-in insulation” which tends to hold in heat and smoke. “So, it was a long time in discovering this fire,” he said. “The residents weren’t aware that this fire was burning for a while. So, when we arrived, we had a rapidly extending fire in that cockloft.” He said firefighters cut the roof, put hose lines in place, and proceeded with extinguishing efforts.

 

The fire chief said the FDNY’s heat, thermal-imaging cameras are unable to pick up the level of heat behind the blown-in insulation system due to its thickness. He said in such circumstances with such a system, if a fire starts at night while residents are sleeping, the fire can develop for a while before it becomes apparent that there is in fact a fire. A drone was seen being flown over the area at the scene.

 

Miller continued, “Complicating matters, we did have two cars parked on fire hydrants in front of the building, which delayed our response [..] in getting water on the fire, so those two cars will be towed and summonsed, and I implore everyone, for their own safety, do not park on fire hydrants,”

 

He continued, “It’s dangerous. It puts firefighters at risk and it puts residents in that building at risk.” The fire chief said the delays he talked about were due to getting the hose lines operating from the hydrants and were not related to their arrival at the scene. He said it took “several minutes” to get the hoses connected due to having to get around the double-parked cars but that every minute counted due to the age of the building (over 100 years) and the fact that the wood in the cockloft was dried out (so easily flammable), causing the fire to spread rapidly. “The sooner we get water on the fire, the sooner things start to go better, and any delay is not acceptable,” Miller said.

 

FDNY Chief Brown-Rosa later said of the four injured, all were non life-threatening, and one was a little bit more serious that the other three and all were able to walk.

 

Regarding the cause, Miller said fire marshals were on scene and investigating. “We’re trying to determine if the fire started in the cockloft and dropped down to an apartment or if the fire started in an apartment and spread to the cockloft,” he said. “They’ll be on scene most of the day, trying to determine that.’

 

Norwood News reached out to the Red Cross, who were seen at the site Thursday morning, for details of how many residents have been displaced. Several residents were seen outside the building, some holding their pets.

 

A spokesperson later said, “Our Red Cross team is on site and supporting a reception center for residents impacted by the fire on Dekalb Avenue in the Bronx this morning. At the reception center, we have already connected with dozens of residents and anticipate more people needing help throughout the day. Residents impacted by the fire who need help should come to Mosholu Montefiore Community Center at 3450 Dekalb Avenue (gym, basement level) for emergency assistance, such as hot lunch and registering for a safe place to stay tonight. We will continue to share updates throughout the day as they become available.”

The Red Cross spokesperson later issued an update, saying, “After the fire on DeKalb Avenue in The Bronx, the American Red Cross is supporting a reception center to help residents access recovery resources, such as hot lunches and a safe place to stay for the weekend. As of 3.30 p.m., the Red Cross has registered 52 households, including 26 children and 111 adults (137 total individuals) as well as 31 pets, for emergency assistance.

The spokesperson said additional updates would be shared later on Thursday, as residents return home and more information about the building conditions is made available.

 

Residents in need of assistance should go to the reception center. If a resident is unable to go to the reception center before it is closed, they can also call 1-877-RED CROSS (877-833-2767) and select Option 1. The Red Cross said it was grateful to partners at Mosholu Montefiore Community Center for sharing space with the affected residents, as well as helping support resident needs with clothes, shelf-stable snacks, and personal and pet care items.

We spoke to some residents. Some said they did not hear any fire alarm, and only woke up due to being woken by a family member, because they smelled smoke, were alerted by a neighbor or by the FDNY.  Norwood News followed up with NYC Department of Buildings to ask which agency oversaw fire alarm testing.

 

A DOB spokesperson said it was more of an NYC Department of Housing, Preservation & Development (HPD) issue, than DOB. He said checked with HPD and was advised that their records didn’t show any complaints “of any kind” since June, and no complaints related to smoke detectors either. Regarding violations, he said HPD said they hadn’t had any for defective smoke detectors since 2022 and added that HPD inspect smoke detectors during each apartment visit regardless of the reason for a visit.

 

One resident said they could hear a faint fire alarm on the floor above them but nothing on their floor (the fifth). Another resident said because the internal fire doors in the building are closed at night, it made exiting apartments located between two fire doors [in the corridor] difficult due to the smoke as he said it was hard to see and open the doors to exit.

 

Several penalties and fines imposed by NYC Department of Buildings (DOB) are pending in respect of the building, as per the below screenshots. There are also several violations in place by NYC Department of Housing, Preservation & Development (HPD).

 

They relate to broken elevators, boilers and more. Norwood News has followed up with DOB to ask which department checks for working fire alarms. We will share any feedback we receive.

More reaction from residents to follow.