One person was killed and five others injured – including two firefighters – when a massive fire ripped through a five-story Upper East Side apartment building early Thursday, according to reports.
The six-alarm blaze broke out at 324 E. 93rd St. around 3:20 a.m. and spread swiftly throughout the century-old building in the Yorkville section of the neighborhood, according to WPIX.
Dozens of people were evacuated, and an FDNY official told the TV station that some victims in the century-old building suffered “life-threatening injuries.”
At least one person was listed in serious condition, and the injuries sustained by the firefighters were considered minor, the station reported.
“I smelled smoke and then by the window I saw sparks and then I saw flames,” a woman told the station. “That’s when me and my husband just decided to leave the house.”
“When you wake up in the middle of the night it’s the last thing you can imagine,” another resident said. “In the middle of your sleep it’s the worst thing.”
Flames shot out the roof at one point — sending embers onto nearby buildings as some residents fled into the streets in their pajamas.
The fire had such intensity that residents in other buildings thought their own homes were ablaze.
“Such a big apartment fire on the UES tonight that I woke up at 4 AM smelling burnt rubber and thinking *my* apartment was on fire,” tweeted Michelle McGahan.
Ninety-third Street was closed between First and Second avenues, and First Avenue is closed between 91st and 94th streets.
