Flames began in apartment 6H and ran the cockloft before crews contained the spread.
BRONX, N.Y. — A four-alarm fire that broke out around 3 p.m. Friday at 1520 Sheridan Ave. in Claremont injured nine people and displaced multiple families as firefighters attacked flames pushing into the building’s roof, officials said.
Deputy Assistant Chief Joseph Duggan said first-arriving companies reached the scene in under four minutes and found heavy fire in a sixth-floor apartment that extended into the cockloft, a shallow void beneath the roof. The fast horizontal spread forced roof cuts and searches across adjoining units. Officials said two residents, three firefighters and four police officers sustained minor injuries, largely from smoke inhalation during evacuations. While searching apartments, responders also found a 73-year-old woman dead inside a unit; police are treating that discovery as a separate case not believed to be caused by the fire.
Tenants described frantic moments as smoke curled into hallways. “We grabbed what we could and ran,” one resident said while clutching a carrier with trembling pets. Another tenant, Audrey Bustos, who lives across from the apartment of origin, said the hallway turned hot and dark within minutes. “It was horrible,” Bustos said. Crews vented the roof as ladder companies worked the top line and engine companies advanced hoses through the sixth floor. By early evening, flames that had punched through the roof were knocked down, but upper-floor apartments remained off-limits as teams checked for lingering fire in the cockloft.
Officials did not immediately release a cause. Fire marshals are inspecting the unit of origin, looking at electrical sources, appliances and heating equipment typical of top-floor winters. The building’s layout and cockloft construction can allow fire to travel laterally once it breaches a ceiling, increasing smoke conditions for apartments that are not directly adjacent to the origin. Hallway visibility, tenant accounts and burn patterns will factor into the investigation, along with interviews and any camera footage collected from common areas or nearby storefronts. Damage estimates were not available Friday night, but multiple sixth-floor units suffered heavy fire and water damage.
The NYPD said the 73-year-old woman found inside a unit was pronounced dead at the scene by EMS. Her identity will be released after family is notified. The Office of Chief Medical Examiner will perform an autopsy to determine cause and manner of death. Separately, officials said the nine injuries were considered minor. The injured firefighters and police officers were evaluated at local hospitals, and residents were treated for smoke inhalation on scene and at area facilities. City agencies routinely coordinate short-term housing and services when apartments are rendered temporarily uninhabitable by fire; several families waited on the block for updates as temperatures dropped.
Neighbors returning home around school pickup and the afternoon commute found Sheridan Avenue crowded with engines, ladders and sawdust from roof cuts. Children held blankets while officers moved people behind caution tape. A resident who had stepped out for groceries said she came back to find smoke through the cornice and firefighters on the roof. “You could barely breathe when the door opened,” she said. By night, steam drifted from the roof while utilities crews assessed lines and firefighters packed hose on the street.
As of early Saturday, investigators continued to work both the fire’s origin-and-cause case and the separate death investigation. Officials said updates on the preliminary fire cause and building status are expected once the marshals complete their initial report.
Author note: Last updated November 29, 2025.