A 72-year-old woman died in a fire on the 19th floor of an East Harlem high-rise after firefighters had to traverse the stairs because elevators were not working, according to the fire department.
The FDNY said there was a report of a fire breaking out at the building on East 122nd Street between Second and Third avenues around 7 p.m.
It was not immediately clear what may have sparked the blaze nearly 20 floors above the ground. More than 100 fire and EMS personnel responded to the scene, with firefighters forced to lug their equipment up the stairs due to one elevator marked as out of order, and another not functioning properly.
A 72-year-old woman was seriously injured in the fire and rushed to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead. The victim’s identity has not yet been released, but police said she was found in her apartment on the 19th floor.
“Very challenging to get up there carrying all the gear up 19 floors and then having to go to work. The apartment had heavy clutter, which caused them to have to search a little harder to find the victim,” said FDNY Dep. Chief Joseph Abbamonte.
A resident of the building who uses a wheelchair told NBC New York that the elevators had been out of service for two weeks.
“If there was an elevator working, they could have gotten the firemen up there quicker,” the resident said.
A firefighter was also taken to Metropolitan Hospital, but their injuries were not considered to be life-threatening.
An investigation into the fire was ongoing.
