It wasn’t immediately clear how many residents could not be in the midst of the Spring Valley fire, Trooper Steven Nebula of New York State Police Troop F said around 4 a.m. ET. It was also unknown whether any residents had been injured or killed.
The firefighter had gone missing in the Lafayette Street fire about an hour earlier, Nevel said.
Another firefighter had a heart attack and was taken to hospital with injuries, he said.
State police sent assistance, including a K9 unit and supervisors, and downtown seniors were taken out of the area by buses, Nevel told CNN. Spring Valley is located about 40 miles north of Manhattan.
Seniors in wheelchairs were taken away from danger
They literally “ran in and helped out with the seniors,” Green said as the flames continued to burn through the building behind him. “There were plenty of good Samaritans here, about eight of them literally running into the building and taking them out in the wheelchairs, walking frames, and literally picking them up and physically removing them from danger.”
Residents were put on a school bus while their house was on fire, Greed told WCBS.
“They were speechless. It was really traumatic to see that,” he said. “Watching their facility, their house go up in flames, was a very traumatic thing.”
Firefighters doused the building with water as towering flames ripped through what remained of the building, video shows.
Raymond Rodriguez was staying in his uncle’s apartment near the senior center when the fire started, he told CNN affiliate WABC.
Rodriguez could see firefighters pulling two people out of the fire, he said.
“It’s just a sad day for the people in this city,” he told WABC, adding that firefighters were evacuating people into the courtyard of the building where he was staying while fighting the blaze.
The apartment building’s vinyl siding seemed melted and warped, WABC video shows.
Charles Crippen, who lives in the building with the molten siding, was willing to leave his home if the fire spread, he said.
“It’s pretty devastating,” he told WABC. “That’s a lot of old people living there, disabled and things like that, and they’re all out of the house now.”
CNN has contacted multiple agencies and officials for more information.
This is a story in development and will be updated