Building blaze injures elderly woman

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An elderly woman is in critical condition after a fire ripped through her Riverdale co-op on Saturday.

Authorities said the blaze began on the ninth floor of an 11-story, post-war building at 5500 Fieldston Road at around 12:34 p.m.

The victim’s name and age were not released, but tenants who witnessed the rescue said that the woman was in her nineties and lived alone.

“I was sitting [and] reading and I saw smoke coming out of her window,” said Mary O’Callahan, 70, who alerted building workers and emergency responders to the fire. “That was frightening just to see the smoke coming out of her window.”

Richie Ofarrill, the building’s handyman, called 911 before rushing upstairs from the basement to help the victim, but she did not open the door.

“I was pounding on the door over and over and yelling,” he said. “The hallway was filling up with smoke at that point. I knew she was in there because I had seen her going into the building at around 10:30.”

Because the Fieldston Road building, which houses 180 units, is fireproof, the fire in the woman’s apartment did not spread to the other apartments, according to building workers. 

Twenty units comprised of 80 firefighters rushed to the building to try to put out the blaze. 

“Within seconds, they carried her out,” said witness Manfred Schweitzer, 59, of Florida, who was visiting his father, Frederick Schweitzer, 84, a tenant who lives on the ninth floor.

The victim appeared to be unconscious, he said. “When they laid her down, her arm flopped to the right. It was very sad.”

By 1:13 p.m., the fire was brought under control, according to authorities. 

The woman was transported to New York Presbyterian Hospital, where she is listed in critical condition.

The fire is currently under investigation by Fire Marshals. 

Tenants of the co-op described the victim as a “nice lady” who was a “very solitary person.”

“Every time, I saw her, she was out alone,” said Robert Flower, 57, a porter at the building who would often do maintenance work in the woman’s apartment. “I never saw anyone come visit her. She minded her own business.”

The victim has lived in the building since 1969, according to the building’s superintendent Rick Lane. 

“She was a very nice lady,” said Mr. Lane. “I don’t know what happened or how the fire started, but she had a lot of stuff [in her apartment].”

Frederick Schweitzer, who was friendly with the victim of the fire throughout her time living at the co-op, was devastated to hear that she was hurt in the fire and had no one to help her.

“It was such a shame,” he said.  “Just to suffer [from that kind of] injury, to be alone and helpless.”

Fire, Fieldston Road, Elderly, FDNY, Tanisia Morris

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