A massive fire tore through a row of stores and an apartment building in the Bronx overnight, bubbling a virtual inferno into the dark sky but causing no serious injuries.
The fire broke out at a one-story taxpayer building — a small, cheaply built building to cover the owner’s property taxes — on Prospect Avenue in Melrose around 10:30 p.m. Thursday, according to the FDNY.
It was fully involved in flames by the time crews arrived. It chewed through a bodega, fruit shop and dollar store, then jumped to the roof and second floor of an adjacent six-story apartment building, which was evacuated.
One resident was treated at the scene for a minor injury, officials said.
Ultimately, more than 200 fire and EMS personnel responded.
The FDNY posted dramatic photos and video of the scene on X.
Witnesses described the chaos.
“You see people just running from all over,” recounted Maylani Napoles. “You see people in the building, waving their hands out the window, trying to catch somebody’s attention — everything.”
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
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