Following the fatal fire which broke out at 660 East 187th Street in Belmont on Tuesday, April 21, claiming the lives of two people and leaving the residents of the entire building displaced, the FDNY held a second press conference in Belmont on Friday, April 24, to provide an update on their investigation into the 5-alarm blaze, during which officials highlighted once again that importance of closing doors in the event of a fire to stop it from spreading. Read our initial story on the fire here and its aftermath here.

 

FDNY Deputy First Commissioner Dan Flynn reiterated what FDNY officials had stated on Tuesday in that though tragic, the impact of the fire could have been a lot worse and resulted in more deaths, had it not been for what was described as the heroic efforts of  the various FDNY and EMS units.

 

“People were trapped in that building. People were hanging out of windows,” he said, adding that fire units arrived at the scene in around three and half minutes and that the fire was well advanced by the time they arrived. “The reason why we believe that the fire was advanced is because the doors were left open inside the building,” Flynn said.

 

He said both the door to the apartment where the fire started and the front door of the building were left open “to the bulkhead,” which he said was the exit to the roof. “If not for those doors being open, we believe that the fire may have even been contained in that one apartment and we would have not have lost anybody in that fire.”

He added, “We cannot stress [to] you enough to please close the door when there is a fire. Close the door to your apartment. Close the door to the common areas within the building. You are not venting the fire by leaving the door open. You are only creating a more hazardous condition. Please always close the door. Have a plan if there is a fire. We have fire escapes in this building.” He said not everyone used the fire escapes.

 

He encouraged residents to always make sure they had access to their fire escape. “Make sure the windows are not blocked,” he said. “Practice. Walk out onto the fire escape. Show your children where the fire escapes are. Do not get caught off guard when these fires occur. Always know how you’re going to escape.”

 

Referring to the two people who died in the latest Belmont fire, he said it appeared they did not have such an escape plan. “Unfortunately, they were found in the stairwell,” he said. “That is due to the open door. They came from the upper floors [over where the fire broke out]. They could have used that fire escape. Please always be prepared for these circumstances.”

 

FDNY Chief of Operations Kevin Woods, who addressed the media on Tuesday after the fire, spoke again at Friday’s press conference and talked about the hazards of a non-fireproof buildings such as 660 East 187th Street, which as reported is over 100 years old. “If there’s a fire in your apartment, I want you to do three things,” Woods said. “We want you to leave immediately, close the door behind you, and when you’re in a safe area, call 911”

 

Referring to Tuesday’s fire and the open doors, he said, “The fire, the heat, the smoke, the contaminants spread throughout this building, trapping members in their apartments.” He said additionally, somebody had propped open the front door entrance. “They thought they were doing the right thing,” Woods said. “We have a lot of dos and don’ts in the FDNY. We try to educate. We encourage you to visit https://www.fdnysmart.org/ and to learn about that.

He said the building had two means of exiting (egress), the interior stairs and the exterior fire escapes. He said because the interior stairs were compromised due to the open doors and smoke filling the air, the fire escapes should have been used. He went on to say that Ladder 38 did a “phenomenal job.” Engine 88, we operate as a team. Engine 88 started stretching a handline. Ladder 38 started removing people from the fire escape, people trapped at windows.”

 

He went on to say that rescues took place at the front and at the rear of the building, adding that Ladder 56 rescued a third-floor occupant, saving his life.

 

Later FDNY Captain Hunt with Ladder 56, who was the captain on scene on the day of the fire and who coordinated the Ladder 56 rescue efforts, explained the portable ladder operations which facilitated those efforts.

 

Hunt said they performed the ladder rescue from Crescent Avenue from the rear of the building, adding that on arrival they found heavy fire and multiple people on the roof at the rear of the building, and multiple people on the fire escape. He said as they were setting up, a civilian came toward him and grabbed him. “Would not let go of my arm, kept saying, ‘My brother’s trapped’.”

 

Hunt said he told the man that they would get his brother but that he needed to get to the front. “He insisted,” Hunt said. “He dragged me into the 663 Crescent, which is where I went into the lobby, I went to the back of the lobby, looked at the door, There was a door that went down into the courtyard or blind shaft alleyway, as we call it.”

He said once there, he looked up and saw the man’s brother trapped on the third floor. “He was in desperate need,” Hunt continued. “He was running short on time. The fire at this time was so advanced, it was coming right towards him, heavy duty smoke condition.” Referring to his unit, he said he yelled for portable ladders and said he couldn’t express the job his unit carried out in getting 24-foot, portable ladders into the lobby, downstairs, out to the courtyard, and up to the window where the man was [in a very short timespan].

 

He said he stayed with man the whole time, while the ladders were being set up, coaching him and yelling at him. “He had his head six inches out the top of the window,” Hunt said. “He had the window and an air conditioner underneath. The air conditioner was screwed into the window. He couldn’t break…he couldn’t do anything.”

 

Hunt said, while the ladders were on their way, he kept telling the man to break the window and he finally did, cutting his arm as he did so. He then instructed him how to get the air conditioner out of the way by removing some of the window so he could escape and was later met by Firefighter Tommy Burke who he said made his way up the ladder.

 

“At this point, the civilian was pretty much out of gas,” Hunt said. “He told me, ‘I can’t make it’. I go, ‘You’re going to make it’. Hunt said the man was taken out headfirst down the ladder, and was then handed off to the NYPD, who took him to EMS. “Teamwork is what it’s all about,” he said. “That civilian was completely cut off, no fire escape. Had it not been for his brother, we wouldn’t have known he was there. He was pretty much in a closed shaft that no-one could see.”

Woods said the FDNY trained everyday for situations like the one that unfolded. In response to some questions, he reiterated the message about visiting https://www.fdnysmart.org/, knowing the type of building residents live in [fireproof versus non-fireproof], learning about escape routes, and if an interior stairwell is filled with smoke / fire / heat, to use the exterior fire escape. [An elevator should never be used in the event of a fire in case it malfunctions due to the fire, trapping people inside.] ‘

 

Woods said the open doors contributed to “products of combustion” affecting “every single floor in the building,” with heat, fire and smoke traveling up the stairwell. Of the two fatal victims, he confirmed that neither were residents of the apartment where the fire started, and lived on higher floors. “They were caught in their tracks. They didn’t have a chance. They were coming down the stairs, trying to get out,” he said, adding that the cause of the fire remains under investigation.

 

Anyone wishing to help those affected by the fire can read about how they can do so in our previous story here.

Click here to read FDNY’s fire safety tips. “During a fire, always close the door behind you!” fire officials say. “It helps contain smoke and flames, giving you precious time to escape.”

 

The Belmont Catholic Community shared the following update on relief efforts on Thursday, saying in part, “We are overwhelmed with gratitude for the love and generosity our community has shown during this time. 🤍 At this moment, the Belmont Catholic Community is no longer accepting physical donations. We are now only accepting cash donations, which will go directly into our Emergency Fund to continue supporting those affected by the fire.

 

Seguimos aquí para nuestra comunidad. Gracias por caminar con nosotros en este momento difícil. 🙏
Ahora solo estamos aceptando donaciones en efectivo, las cuales serán destinadas al Fondo de Emergencia para ayudar a las familias afectadas.”  

 

Click here for more information.

 

A vigil was held later on Friday evening to remember and pray for those affected by the fire. More to follow.

A VIGIL IS held outside the Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church on East 187th Street in Belmont on Friday, 4/24/26, to pray for those lost and affected by the 5-alarm fatal fire at 660 East 187th Street on Tuesday, 4/21/26. V1 Video by Síle Moloney