‘I heard him yelling for help.’ 1 person dead, 6 firefighters injured in Belmont apartment fire
The FDNY says it received a call for a fire on the top floor of a building at 505 E 184th St. between Bassford Avenue and Bathgate Avenue at 5:30 a.m.
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Mar 27, 2026, 5:23 AM
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Updated
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The Department of Buildings has issued a full vacate order at a Belmont building that burst into flames early Thursday morning.
DOB says they're concerned about the stability of the roof and that there's extensive damage. Part of the roof is missing.
The Red Cross says they registered 22 households with emergency assistance and that residents are temporarily staying at PS159.
The FDNY says it received a call for a fire on the top floor of a building at 505 E 184th St. between Bassford Avenue and Bathgate Avenue at 5:30 a.m.
According to officials, the 5-alarm fire was on the top floor and cockloft of the building.
Fire officials say it took 270 firefighters more than 2-and-a-half hours to bring those flames under control.
Six firefighters suffered minor injuries, including a minor sprain and heat exhaustion.
Mandy, who has lived in the building for 10 years, says her life flashed before her eyes while escaping the fire.
"I didn't know how bad the fire was in the beginning, it was very smoky, and I could hardly see and I had to get me, my husband and my family out," says Mandy.
Officials say the fire started in the apartment of the person who died.
Mandy says she heard a man on the fifth floor begging for help.
"He was stuck in there. I was one of the first ones on the scene, being that I live on the first floor and I actually heard him yelling for help,” she says.
Kevin Brown, who lives in the area, says he also saw that man. He says the man couldn't get onto the fire escape, leaving him trapped inside. Brown says he doesn't know if the man made it out alive.
"I don't see him out here, so I don't know…hopefully by God's will he made it out, but I don't know," says Brown.
Although the fire is now out, the chief of operations says it has left extensive damage.
"There is heavy damage to this building as you can hear and see behind me, the roof collapsed to the top floor. There was also extensive collapse of the cornice," he says.
People living in the building were relocated to a reception center at P.S. 159, which is now closed.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
