One woman dead, 8 hospitalized in Fox Street explosion
BY ALIYA SCHNEIDER
A Bronx building exploded
at the corner of Fox and Tiffany
streets in the Longwood
section of the Bronx
around 10:53 a.m. Tuesday,
and offi cials are investigating
whether it’s related to a gas
scent reported earlier in the
morning.
The FDNY responded to
the 869 Fox St. two-alarm fi re,
which offi cials declared a major
emergency, within 4 minutes,
according to FDNY offi -
cials.
Firefi ghters sprayed water
at the three-story residence as
dark smoke emerged from the
windows and roof.
Approximately 200 fi re and
EMS personnel responded, according
to FDNY Chief John
Hodgens.
An NYPD spokeswoman
told the Bronx Times three civilians
and fi ve offi cers were
hospitalized, as of 1:40 p.m.
Tuesday.
Martha Dagbasta, a
77-year-old resident who was
transported to Lincoln Hospital
had died, and an 82-yearold
woman and 68-year-old
woman were in stable condition
at Lincoln. Three offi cers
were admitted to Jacobi Medical
Center and two offi cers to
Lincoln Hospital for smoke inhalation.
At a press conference
shortly before 4 p.m. on Tuesday,
Hodgens said the woman
who died was one of two sisters
who were inside the
building during the explosion,
and then found laying on
the ground outside. The surviving
sister is in serious condition,
he said.
Mayor Eric Adams said
police offi cers carried out a
Firefi ghters respond to an explosion on Fox Street in the Bronx on the morning of Tuesday, Jan. 18. Photos Lloyd Mitchell
woman who was trapped inside
a burning building next
door to the explosion. That
woman, 68, has serious injuries
but is expected to survive,
Hodgens said.
“This tragic and frightening
event after the inferno
we saw just days ago just really
adds the pressure on the
Bronx and all those who have
experienced overcoming this
issue as it seems to continue
to unfold right now,” Adams
said on Tuesday, referencing
the Jan. 9 fi re at Twin Parks
North West in Fordham
Heights, which killed 17, including
BRONX TIMES REPORTER, J 6 JAN. 21-27, 2022 BTR
eight children.
Bronx Borough President
Vanessa Gibson said she was
at the Fordham Heights site
when she learned about the
Longwood fi re.
“While the Bronx is no
stranger to fi res, we are going
to continue to work together
as a community to make sure
that we provide all of the services
that are necessary for
the homeowners and for the
residents,” Gibson said.
City Councilman Rafael
Salamanca Jr., whose district
encompasses Tuesday’s South
Bronx fi re scene, had said on
Twitter during the fi re that
the fl ames came from a gas explosion.
He tweeted an hour after
the fi re was reported that it
was still burning.
But whether the fi re came
from a gas explosion is still under
investigation, Adams said.
Someone reported smelling
gas early Tuesday morning,
prior to the 10:53 a.m. explosion,
but offi cials want to be
confi dent before declaring the
cause, Hodgens said.
“We will be on scene operating
as we sift through the rubble
just to look for any type of
evidence,” the fi re chief said.
The building that exploded
and two adjacent connecting
buildings are all destroyed and
need to be demolished, Hodgens
said. Two nearby buildings
need structural work but
can be saved.
Adams said the gas was
shut off on the entire block and
the city wants to get it back on
as soon as possible, adding that
many seniors live in the area.
“The goal is to do an expeditious
but safe investigation
so we can get people back into
their homes,” Adams said.
Salamanca said many
buildings on the block burned
down in the ’70s and ’80s and
had been revitalized in the
late ’80s and early ’90s. “To see
these fi res really breaks our
hearts and breaks our homeowners’
hearts,” he said. “But
what I did see here today was,
as I was talking to homeowners,
they knew who and the
names of those individuals
that live in each and every one
of those homes.”
There was one man neighbors
thought went missing,
but they called his family and
learned he was in Puerto Rico,
Salamanca said.
St. Athanasius Church,
on Tiffany Street, opened its
doors to residents impacted by
the fi re, and the Red Cross is
providing assistance.
Lt. Gov. Brian Benjamin
said he couldn’t believe it
when he heard another fi re
erupted in the Bronx, and that
he and Gov. Kathy Hochul will
ensure the state does everything
it can to help those impacted.
A mattress from inside the collapsing structure is among the remnants of the fi re.