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Residents Living In Building Illegally Escape Fire At Westchester Home

Residents living illegally in a building without any working utilities were able to escape without injury when a fire broke out in the basement area of a Yonkers home, the Yonkers Fire Department said.

Residents living illegally in a Yonkers home were able to escape a basement fire that spread.

Residents living illegally in a Yonkers home were able to escape a basement fire that spread.

Photo Credit: Google Maps street view

The fire, at 51 Victor Street, was reported to the Yonkers Fire Department around 3 a.m. Tuesday, said Assistant Chief John Bonanno,

Firefighters from Battalion 1 arrived within a minute and confirmed there was a working structure fire located in the basement of the two-and-a-half story wood-frame building.

Some 40 firefighters quickly made an aggressive interior attack along with searching for possible victims, but all residents had self-evacuated the building, Bonanno said.

The fire was primarily contained to the basement, some smoke and water damage throughout the structure.

Con Edison officials informed the fire department there were no working utilities in the building.

"It was in unclear how many people were in the building and displaced because they were living in the building illegally," Bonanno said. 

The Office of Emergency Management was on site for possible relocations. The Yonkers Department of Buildings was also on site to assess the building and attempt to contact the owner, as of last night no owner had been located.

Yonkers Fire and Yonkers Police were investigating a possible cause of the fire, officials said.

There were no FF or civilian injuries to report.

"I attribute the quick actions of the YFD to contain this fire and stop the spread within or to adjacent buildings which were only separated by a few feet," Bonanno said.

Companies were picked up and back in service by 5 a.m. The building was then turned over to the Yonkers Police Department.

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