1 Reported Death After Fire Starts in Trump Tower
One man was killed and six firefighters were injured after a Saturday evening fire extensively damaged an apartment on the 50th floor of New York City’s Trump Tower.
No members of the Trump family were in the Manhattan skyscraper when the fire broke out at 5:30 p.m. in the apartment of Todd Brassner, 67, according to Politico. Brassner was pulled from his apartment by firefighters, but later died at Mount Sinai Hospital, ABC News reported.
FDNY Commissioner Daniel Nigro said none of the injuries suffered by the six injured firefighters were life-threatening. Two of the six suffered burns fighting the blaze in the 58-story structure.
“This is a very difficult fire, as you can imagine. The apartment is quite large. We’re 50 stories up. The rest of the building had considerable amount of smoke,” Nigro said, according to WABC.
About 200 fire and emergency workers responded to the four-alarm fire, which sent glass and other debris tumbling to the street below as a large crowd of onlookers gathered. Fire officials declared the fire under control at 8 p.m.
President Donald Trump tweeted his thanks for their efforts, while also praising Trump Tower for being “well built.”
“Fire at Trump Tower is out. Very confined (well built building). Firemen (and women) did a great job. THANK YOU!” Trump tweeted.
Fire at Trump Tower is out. Very confined (well built building). Firemen (and women) did a great job. THANK YOU!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 7, 2018
Eric Trump emulated his father in thanking first responders.
“Thank you to the amazing men and women of the NYFD who extinguished a fire in a residential apartment at @TrumpTower. The @FDNYand @NYPD are truly some of the most incredible people anywhere!” he tweeted.
Thank you to the amazing men and women of the NYFD who extinguished a fire in a residential apartment at @TrumpTower. The @FDNY and @NYPD are truly some of the most incredible people anywhere! 🇺🇸🇺🇸
— Eric Trump (@EricTrump) April 7, 2018
The cause of the fire had not been released as of Sunday morning.
“Units went up with the Secret Service afterwards to check the president’s residence. Some smoke reached the rest of the building, whether it’s in the apartment, I don’t know right now. But the floors above the fire of course as they usually do will have some amount of smoke,” said Nigro, referring to the 58th-floor residence of the president and his family.
Nigro said firefighters put themselves in danger to fight the blaze, the New York Post reported.
“The apartment was virtually entirely on fire,” he said. “They pushed in heroically. They were knocking down the fire. They found one occupant of the apartment on the 50th floor.”
Nigro said there were no sprinklers in the top floors of the building. However, the building was built prior to the 1983 law requiring sprinklers.
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