Explosion rocks Longwood construction site, sending neighbors fleeing
The incident has officials calling for more FDNY staffing.
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A powerful explosion and fire tore through a six-story building under construction in the Longwood section of the Bronx Tuesday evening, sending thick smoke billowing into the sky and neighbors running into the streets.
The FDNY responded around 5:13 p.m. to 1035 Rev. James A. Polite Ave., where crews used a tower ladder to pour water onto flames shooting from the roof. Paramedics were staged nearby, but say the building was empty at the time of the fire. No injuries were reported.
“It sounded like a bomb… it woke me up. I ran straight to my window — I saw people outside with their hands over their heads running,” one neighbor said.
Another resident said the force of the explosion shook nearby buildings.
“The way you felt the whole building shake — you’re thinking it’s a bomb or something else,” Humphrey Ejyir said.
Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson is now calling on the mayor’s office to invest more in the city’s fire response, including adding an additional firefighter to every station after a string of fires across the borough and a deadly blaze in Belmont.
“Of course there’s a cost, but you can’t put a cost on someone’s life,” Gibson said.
City Hall has not yet responded to a request for comment.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
