November 26, 2021
As the sun came up on Thanksgiving morning, FDNY was still “putting water on” the smouldering embers atop 78 Post Avenue, according to Battalion Chief Marsar. A five alarm fire had broken out the night before and burned for several hours before being brought under control, sending sparks and billowing smoke skyward. The glow was visible from west of Broadway and there were reports that the smell of smoke reached parts of the Bronx. A helicopter hovered noisily overhead.
Photo: Dee Matos
Assembly Member Carmen de la Rosa stood across the street on Thursday morning, assisting displaced residents. She explained that the building was under a vacate order, meaning that everyone had to leave and stay with friends, relatives, or at a hotel. A fire earlier this year had also displaced tenants of this building. The fire on Thanksgiving Eve started in a top floor apartment and spread through the cockloft, eventually engulfing the entire top floor. There were no reports of injuries, according to FDNY and NYPD sources at the scene, and the cause of the blaze remained unkown.
