The new year began with a fire in the Highbridge section of the Bronx, leaving four residents injured and 10 to 15 tenants displaced. Two firefighters were also injured.
The fire began on the top floor of a three-story wood-frame building at 920 Summit Avenue just before 7:00 p.m. on January 2.
The intense fire quickly turned to three alarms, forcing firefighters to withdraw from the building and use a tower ladder to battle the main body of the blaze. More than 130 firefighters from 33 units entered the building with four hose lines to extinguish the remainder of the fire.
The cause of the fire is yet unknown and under investigation.
Managing Fires in Area Is Challenging
Due to considerable traffic concerns, fires along Summit Avenue in the West Bronx have proved challenging to manage, according to the FDNY.
Back in March 2023, a double fire (ignited, put out, then ignited and put out again) at 913 Summit Ave. — which is on the same block as the Jan. 2 blaze — took firefighters more than an hour to extinguish the first time, due to heavy traffic on the neighborhood’s narrow streets.
