New York: Two Buildings Collapse, Killing 1 and Injuring 17 After Gas Explosion in Harlem
Witnesses said the blaze began Wednesday morning in the Absolute Piano store. Metro-North service was suspended in both directions as Mayor de Blasio went to the scene.
A loud explosion inside a five-story building on Park Ave. at E. 116th St. sent "people flying out the window," killing one person, injuring 17 and leaving two buildings in rubble Wednesday morning, according to the Fire Department and witnesses.
“For weeks we've been smelling gas," said Ashley Rivera, 21, holding back tears. "We saw people flying out of the window. ... Those are my neighbors."
A law enforcement source told the Daily News the cause appeared to be a gas explosion. Mayor de Blasio was on his way to the scene.
Witness Michelle Jackson, 29, said she saw a badly burned 8-year-old boy being tended to by frantic pedestrians. She described a "loud bang" and "explosion."
A spokesman for the Fire Department said the first call regarding a possible explosion came at 9:31 a.m.
The fire began inside the Absolute Piano store at 1646 Park Ave. and was followed by the blast, witnesses told the Daily News. The neighboring building at 1644 Park Ave. was also destroyed. Windows of neighboring storefronts were shattered.
Medics treated one woman on a stretcher as other stunned bystanders lingered around the scene with dust on their coats.
Mitch Abreu, 23, was working at Milciades Barbershop nearby when he heard two loud explosions that shook the shop.
"It was loud, like boom, boom!" he said. "It rocked the whole block. A window blew out of the other shop down the street. It looked like the towers all over again. People covered in dust and covering their mouths."
isha Watts said she was using the bathroom in a neighboring building when she heard the blast, which ripped part of her apartment apart. She was miraculously unscathed, but terrified.
"I thought it was a train derailment. Everything was shaking...I thought God was taking me home!" said Watts, 37. "We have no windows, no walls."
Officials said 44 units and 200 firefighters were on the scene. Rubble from the destroyed building spilled into Park Ave. and smoke choked the blocks surrounding the chaotic scene in East Harlem.
Children's toys and school books were mixed in with the rubble. At least three cars appeared to have been driving by the building when it blew. Firefighters used tools to rescue people trapped in their cars.
Other smokeaters sifted through the rubble looking for victims as others continued to douse the flames.
Metro-North service is suspended in both directions. The MTA said 4, 5, and 6 trains were running at slow speeds due to concern about "vibrations" from the collapse.
The history of one of the collapsed buildings hints at possible factors in the explosion.
Last June new gas pipe was supposed to be installed at one of the buildings that collapsed, 1644 Park Ave., records show. A Buildings department permit was issued to New York Heating to install 120 feet of gas pipe along the outside of the building connecting to a 5th floor stove. An employee who answered the phone at New York Heating couldn’t say when the job was complete and if it was inspected by the fire department.
Several years ago the buildings department issued a violation against the building next door, 1646 Park Ave., after inspectors discovered the building’s rear wall contained a dangerous vertical crack “which is hazardous to the safety of the structure,” records show. The owner of the building, listed as Carl Demler, was issued a violation in August 2008. He apparently paid a $1,335 fine but there’s no record of compliance since.
The Buildings Department also received a complaint in 2008 that a fence had been erected blocking the second egress off the fire escape at 1644 Park Ave. but no violations were issued because inspectors determined there was a second egress through the basement.
On Jan. 14, tenants of Apt. 2 at 1646 Park Ave. complained to city housing inspectors about cracks in the walls and ceiling throughout the apartment, which could indicate there were structural problems there. Housing inspectors issued 13 violations for a variety of problems there, including missing smoke and carbon monoxide detectors and blocked fire exits. The violations remained unresolved as of Wednesday.
