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The fire took place around 6 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 6, at 1 Glenwood Ave., in Yonkers, said Yonkers Fire Department Deputy Chief Joseph Citrone.
Arriving fire crews saw heavy fire coming from a third-floor apartment. Three residents were rescued by an outside ladder from one of the crews, Citrone said.
The fire started inside a third-floor apartment and when the resident fled, the apartment door was not closed and the fire spread to the entire hallway causing a blowtorch effect that took numerous companies to extinguish, he added.
Heavy smoke traveled throughout the entire building and resulted in numerous rescues and calls for help.
One family had to jump from their 19th-floor balcony to the 18th-floor balcony to escape the smoke, Citrone said.
It took crews about an hour to extinguish the fire but took another four hours to check all the apartments and deal with the smoke conditions.
As of Thursday, Jan. 7, 20 apartments are uninhabitable, floors 10 thru 27 have no power and the elevators are not working, the deputy chief said.
The cause of the fire is believed to have been a faulty electric baseboard heater.
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