12 dead in Bronx apartment fire

Twelve people, including a 1-year-old child, were killed and four critically injured in a fire that erupted in a Bronx apartment building Thursday evening, Mayor Bill de Blasio said at a news conference.

“It’s one of the worst losses to life in a fire in many years,” de Blasio said from the scene about 10 p.m. “Thank God because of the FDNY’s quick response . . . at least 12 people were rescued and will survive but the search of the building continues.”

City officials said the death toll could go higher as firefighters continue searching the wreckage of 2363 Prospect Ave., where flames started on the first floor of the five-story building just before 6:55 p.m. The building is about a block from the west side of the Bronx Zoo.

FDNY Commissioner Daniel Nigro said the firefighters were there within minutes but the flames quickly spread to the upper floors of the building, which had 25 apartments. In temperatures approaching zero degrees, 39 units and 175 firefighters battled the five-alarm blaze, fire officials said.

“I just came out in my bathrobe,” said Thierno Diallo, 59, a security guard who was sleeping in his basement apartment when the fire erupted. “I did everything to save my life.”

Diallo said banging on the door and screams of “fire, fire, fire, get out” woke him up. He ran out, he said, and glass debris rained on him.

“I left with no socks, nothing,” the resident said. “Somebody from next door gave me socks.”

The dead ranged in age from 1 to over 50, city officials said.

Building resident Diana Reyes, who lives in apartment 12, took the fire escape to escape the flames and helped bring down two children, according to Robert Gonzales, a friend of Reyes. She was taken to a Red Cross shelter.

“I know that she’s safe at least,” said Gonzalez, of the Bronx.

City officials said it was too early to talk about the cause of the fire but said updates would be given through the night.

“In a department that’s no stranger to tragedy, we’re shocked by the loss,” Nigro said at the scene. “People died on various floors of the apartment.

“This tragedy without question is historic in its magnitude. Our hearts go out to every family that lost a loved one here and everyone that’s fighting for their lives,” Nigro said.

Six firefighters and one emergency medical technician were treated for minor injuries, a fire official said.

City officials opened a nearby school on Crotona Avenue to serve as a shelter and information center. Red Cross was also at the scene to provide housing and other help.

Residents should expect smoke and traffic delays in the area, the city’s emergency management office said on Twitter. It advised people nearby to avoid the smoke and to close their windows.

City Buildings Department records show the structure is a walk-up apartment building, The Associated Press reported.

The 12 confirmed fatalities made the fire the deadliest since an inferno at the Happy Land Social Club killed 87 people in 1990. In March 2007, 10 people — nine of them children — were killed after an overheated cord to a space heater caused a fire that tore through a four-story house in the Bronx.

With Joan Gralla and Pervaiz Shallwani