One person has died and 14 people are reported injured, some with life-threatening injuries after a 5-alarm, residential fire broke out in the Norwood section of The Bronx, following a reported explosion at 374 East 209th Street between Decatur Avenue and Parkside Place on Wednesday afternoon, Aug. 5. A major, multi-departmental response is ongoing at the scene.

 

A fire department spokesperson said they received a call for a reported explosion on the third floor of 374 East 209th Street between Decatur Ave and Parkside Place at 12.26 p.m. on Wednesday. The spokesperson said fire was confirmed on the second and third floors of the 5-story, multiple dwelling.

Fire response at 374 East 209th Street, Norwood, Wednesday,  Aug. 5, 2026 V2

The spokesperson said a second alarm was transmitted at 12.37 p.m., a third at 12.47 p.m. a fourth at 1.09 p.m. and a fifth alarm was transmitted at 1.45 p.m. The spokesperson said 84 units, comprising  270 Fire/EMS personnel had responded to the scene after the 5th alarm.

 

EMS initially reported two adult civilians with life-threatening injuries, and one civilian with serious injuries. The latter is a child according to the FDNY. EMS said five civilians had minor injuries and four firefighters had serious injuries.

The FDNY later updated the injury count and said one person was found deceased inside the building, two civilians have life-threatening injuries, two civilians have serious injuries, four civilians have minor injuries, three firefighters have serious injuries, and three firefighters have minor injuries.

 

Operations remained ongoing on Wednesday evening and many streets around the area including a section of Webster Avenue were occupied by emergency vehicles. It was recommended that traffic avoid the area.

 

Fire response on E Gun Hill near the fire at 374 East 209th Street, Norwood, Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2026 V3

One woman said several pets were trapped inside Apartment BB on the ground floor level. A police officer at the scene told Norwood News the fire department had already completed a check of all floors.

 

Norwood News followed up with animal welfare groups to see if anything further could be done. Betty Arce who runs a local cat rescue group said she later visited the scene but was not allowed past a specific barrier. Several helicopters were heard flying above the expansive scene on Wednesday.

One young man called Hakiem who lives in the affected building and who was seen in shock and crying while speaking on his cellphone nearby told Norwood News, “So, the explosion happened. I was going to the store originally so I was in the house. I live right across (the corridor) from the explosion. I Iive on the second floor.” Hakiem proceeded to break down as he recounted what happened.

 

“Luckily, I have a higher power and I believe in God ’cause he told me not to forget my key and as I turned around, I guess her [a neighbor] door collided into my door, and my door literally flies past my face,” he said, breaking down again as he started to answer calls from friends asking if he was ok.

Butta, a witness to the fire at 374 E 209th Street in Norwood, The Bronx following an explosion Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2026, describes what she saw. V4

We asked Hakiem if he should maybe get checked out by a health professional. “Nothing hit me. Thank God. That has to be God, like I said. I’m not affected,” he said, his voice shaking. “I just want my stuff because I work so hard for everything.”

 

Hakiem, who said he lived alone in his apartment, continued, “I just don’t know where I’m going to live because my apartment was affected by the fire and the fire is still going.” Norwood News mentioned that the Red Cross was on site to help with emergency accommodation. “They’re busy,” he said. “They’re busy still trying to figure out what’s going on with the fire. I don’t see them talking to people right now.” Hakiem continued to weep, clearly very distraught.

He concluded, “More than that [the fire], I was just fighting to survive already,” he said. “I’m really well known and like life added….this is like a big setback. I had things to do tonight and now I don’t know what I can do. It’s how I make money, so I don’t know.”

A Red Cross representative later provided Norwood News with several updates, saying, “After the fire on East 209^th Street in The Bronx, the American Red Cross is on scene to register residents for emergency assistance.”

The representative continued, saying, “As of 6.50 p.m., the Red Cross has registered 13 households (29 people including three children and 26 adults) for emergency assistance, including temporary lodging and other services. Together with NYC Emergency Management (NYCEM), a reception center is open at P.S. 56, 341 E 207th St., Bronx, NY. Here, residents can meet and register with the Red Cross. Registration continues.”

The rep said she would provide another update at 9 p.m. when the reception center will close.

Any residents impacted by this fire who need help with their recovery and have not yet connected with the Red Cross should contact 877-RED CROSS (877-733-2767), according to the Red Cross.

Later, the FDNY held a press conference at the scene and Fire Commissioner Lillian Bonsignore gave an overview on ongoing operations, confirming that the department responded to a report of an explosion but that they do not know yet what the origin of the explosion was. She said the first fire units arrived on scene within three minutes and they found heavy smoke at the scene.

Bonsignore said as further alarms were raised, over 300 EMS and FDNY members responded to the blaze in the end. She said multiple people had to be rescued out of the building, saying the firefighters and EMS personnel did an “extraordinary job.”

“This was a very difficult fire on a very hot and humid day,” she said. “There were multiple examples of heroism where the firefighters were rescuing people from the building and EMS was providing lifesaving drugs and treatment right on the scene, saving multiple lives.”

The fire commissioner said accessibility to the scene had been challenging given its location.

 

Fire Chief John Esposito later said that when firefighters went on to the second floor, they were met with an extremely heavy fire condition.

Referring to some type of explosion, he said, “It blew out window frames. It blew some of them across the street.” He also confirmed that on the second floor, some of the doors had been blown off the hinges as well. Esposito said this added to the difficulty of confining the fire while conducting searches.

 

He said because of this, the fire spread rapidly into the hallway, up the stairs, and into adjacent apartments that also had their doors blown off. “A very unusual and dangerous position for our firefighters,” the chief said, adding that there were members above the fire as it spread to three floors eventually.

“We made a decision to withdraw our members due to a collapsed roof inside the building, from the third floor into the second floor in one of the apartments,” Esposito said, adding that it was a dangerous situation.

 

He said the fire was still not under control and that they would be remaining on scene throughout the night to ensure it is extinguished.

It was confirmed during the press conference that seven, injured civilians were residents of the building. Asked if there had been calls from residents to check on gas in the building in recent weeks, officials said they had no information in that regard. Bonsignore added that the child’s injuries were not too serious but with any child injury, she said it was standard practice to “up-triage.” It was confirmed that Con Ed, who were on scene, had cut off power and gas from the building.

Fire response on Webster Ave near the fire at 374 East 209th Street, Bronx, Aug. 5, 2026. V5

The building is owned by Lyncrest LLC with an address in Monsey, NY. A further leases and rents assignment agreement is in place in respect of the property between JG Funding Corp, with an address in Staten Island, and Revival Health Services LLC, with an address in Boca Raton, Florida.

 

When asked, police later told Norwood News an unconfirmed report that a woman was arrested at the scene of the fire was unfounded.