Mount Vernon fire leaves over 100 families displaced
The blaze broke out around 1 a.m. in the kitchen of a top-floor unit at 30 Cottage Ave., quickly spreading through the seventh floor and into the building’s cockloft.
A massive five-alarm fire in Mount Vernon has left a large apartment building uninhabitable and over 100 people without homes, Mayor Shawyn Patterson-Howard said.
The blaze broke out around 1 a.m. in the kitchen of a top-floor unit at 30 Cottage Ave., quickly spreading through the seventh floor and into the building’s cockloft.
Firefighters from Mount Vernon, Yonkers, Pelham, Hartsdale and New Rochelle rushed to the scene. Mount Vernon crews executed a dramatic rescue of a mother and daughter trapped in apartment 7F, smashing through windows and carrying them down ladders to safety.
“Upon arrival they found heavy flames on the seventh floor and victims hanging out the window,” said Mount Vernon Fire Department Chief of Operations Juan Peralta, adding that the fire accelerated once it reached the space between the roof and ceiling.
Several firefighters were treated for smoke inhalation, and residents say they had little time to escape. With extensive fire and water damage, officials say it may be a long time—if ever—before anyone can return.
