For three straight weeks, as reported, family members displaced by a 5-alarm, fatal fire in Belmont that also resulted in several injuries, have been back at the building, now encased by a temporary wooden barricade, keeping vigil and searching the broken windows for any glimpse of the estimated seven cats and other animals left behind after the blaze. Residents believe they may still be inside the hollowed-out structure.

On the 16th day after a fatal Belmont fire that broke out at 660 East 187th Street destroyed the building, animal rights advocates and neighbors joined displaced residents of the building on Thursday, May 7, to advocate for their pets and to demand that the City allow access to the building to rescue at least seven cats and one dog left inside.