Cops are investigating the death of a 73-year-old woman whose body was discovered as firefighters evacuated a Bronx apartment building during a massive fire, officials said Saturday.
The woman was found inside a sixth-floor apartment of the Sheridan Ave. building near E. 172nd St. in the Concourse section of the Bronx after the four-alarm blaze broke out around 3 p.m. Friday.
The blaze started on the same floor, extended into the space between the ceiling and the building’s roof, and damaged two apartments. However, the home where the dead woman was found hadn’t been touched by any flames, FDNY Deputy Chief Joseph Duggan said at a Friday night press conference.
There was no apparent trauma to the body, an NYPD police source said. It wasn’t clear how long the victim had been dead and her name was not immediately disclosed.
The city’s Medical Examiner has slated an autopsy to determine how the woman died.
Her death, Duggan said, was a “separate incident unrelated to the fire.”
“We had to open up the ceilings from below and also from above,” the chief said, explaining how the FDNY put out the blaze. “We cut the roof away to fully extinguish the fire in that area.”
Nine people, including three firefighters and four police officers, sustained minor injuries from smoke inhalation. The injured first responders were treated at local hospitals, while the two injured residents refused medical assistance, officials said.
Roughly 170 firefighters and EMS personnel responded to the scene.
The fire was under control within three hours.
The FDNY Fire Marshals have been tasked with trying to determine what sparked the fire.