Numerous government and private agencies are working together to aid the estimated 250 people from about 100 families who were made homeless when a five-alarm fire tore through an apartment building at 30 Cottage Ave., in Mount Vernon.
According to Mount Vernon Fire Commissioner Kevin Halt, the first firefighters arrived on the scene at about 2:30 a.m. on Nov. 23. The fire had started in a kitchen then leaped to the cockloft of the building and spread to other areas of the structure. It took almost 12 hours to fully extinguish the blaze. Areas of the building that were not destroyed by fire were damaged by water that was poured into the building by firefighters.
Fire units from New Rochelle, Yonkers, Greenville, and Hartsdale worked with Mount Vernon firefighters at the scene of the blaze. Fire units from other communities went to fire stations in the city to provide protection while the firefighters based in those stations were at the scene.
“We need everyone to pull together and be family right now to take care of these families who were displaced in the middle of the night,” Mount Vernon Mayor Shawyn Patterson-Howard said. “What has not been destroyed by fire has been destroyed by millions of gallons of water being poured on it so our families need all of the support that we can provide right now.”
Patterson-Howard said that all of the residents of the building got out safely and that two firefighters were injured.
“We are working with Red Cross, Westchester County DSS (Department of Social Services), the Urban Renewal Agency … and other partners to plan for the next few weeks and months of the families’ needs,” Patterson-Howard said. “We will be working with our churches, not-for-profit agencies and our businesses to also provide additional immediate and long-term assistance.”
Patterson-Howard said that contributions of clothing and other items for the fire victims were being accepted at the city’s Doles Recreation Center at 250 S. Sixth Ave.
