Metro

Four-alarm blaze tears through Harlem building

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Firefighters battle a blaze on 103rd Street and Second Avenue in Manhattan.Mark Mellone
Christopher Sadowski
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Christopher Sadowski
Christopher Sadowski
Christopher Sadowski
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An early morning blaze sent Harlem residents fleeing for their lives early Saturday, a little more than 24 hours ašŸŒŸfter a firefigšŸŽhter was killed fighting flames further uptown.

The latest fire broke out just before 1 a.m. on the corner of East 103rd Street, at 2000 2nd Ave., a four-story building with a deli, church, cell phone store š’…Œand apartmešŸŒønts.

Christopher Sadowski

ā€œWe ran for our lives,ā€ said Valeria Celon, 16. ā€œMy neighbor saw smoke coming up from the hole where the heating pipe is. She was screaming, ā€˜Call the police! Call thšŸƒe police!ā€™ā€

Residents yelled to alert each other about the flames, pź¦ressing buzzers to make sure everšŸ·yone got out, said Celon, whose family grabbed their beagle, Bella, and pet rabbit before fleeing.

ā€œIt was chaos. People were running with their pets. My neighbor was wearing shorts. She wršŸŽƒapšŸƒped her baby in a blanket and ran,ā€ Celon said.

Authorities, fearful the buildiš“ƒ²ng is unstaź¦Æble, hadnā€™t let anyone back inside as of midday Saturday.

ā€œRight now itā€™s not safe for anybody to go in there. There is extensive damage to every floor in the building,šŸ¤Ŗ particularly the first floor and the top floor,ā€ said FDNY Battalion Chief Frank Leeb.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

It took firefighters about four hours to get the four-alšŸ’™arm blaze under control.

The East 103rd Street fire erupted a little more than 24 hours after Firefighter Michael Davidson, a married father of four, was killed battling a fire on a St. Nicholas Avenue movie set.