A fast-moving fire tore through a three-story building in The Bronx yesterday, killing one tenant and forcing residents to jump from windows to escape.
“When we got to the building, there was smoke and flames coming out of the windows and people jumping from the building,” said Marian Davila, 48, whose mother Carmen, 67, perished in the basement apartment where the blaze began.
The fire erupted around 3:30 p.m., and within minutes, relatives and onlookers were watching in horror as seven residents from the second and third floors leapt from their windows to escape the billowing smoke.
Among the jumpers was Judith DeJesus, 17, who was in a third-floor apartment celebrating a birthday party with her cousin Miguel when the smoke poured in.
“It came out of nowhere. Smoke was everywhere,” she said. “We had to jump out the window.
“I jumped. I hit the awning. I rolled off the awning and landed on a tree. That’s when they caught me.”
There were no other tenant injuries, but one firefighter was hurt.