Final day: Allerton tenants collect belongings from charred Wallace Avenue apartment
Boxes and years of memories sat on the sidewalk along Wallace Avenue, as tenants were allowed about 20 minutes each to salvage whatever was left in their apartments.
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Saturday marked the last day for hundreds of Allerton tenants to collect their personal belongings after a five-alarm fire ripped through their six-story apartment building earlier this month.
Boxes and years of memories sat on the sidewalk along Wallace Avenue, as tenants were allowed about 20 minutes each to salvage whatever was left in their apartments.
The FDNY said flames broke out before 2 a.m. on Jan. 10 between the ceiling of the top floor and the roof, which displaced hundreds of people.
“It’s surreal because you lived there, you make your life there,” said Alex Saco, who said he spent the past five years living on the fifth floor. “You make memories there, then you see the walls, you see the ceilings caving in. It’s kind of like seeing the Titanic.”
A tenant advocate told News 12 many are staying in hotels thanks to temporary shelter through the Red Cross, and the organization is extending the temporary stay through Jan. 31 depending on a family ’s situation.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
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