By Ivan Pereira and Sheila Anne Feeney
Three fires erupted within hours in central Manhattan Sunday, the most serious in a West Side high rise that left one man dead and another man hospitalized with burns and smoke inhalation, according to officials.
The victim, 27-year-old Daniel McClung, was pronounced dead at St. Lukes-Roosevelt Hospital. McClung and a 32-year-old man were found by firefighters in a 31st story stairwell, FDNY Assistant Chief John Sudnik. The other victim was transported in stable condition to NYP/Weill Cornell Medical Center, according to NYPD.
“Many people self evacuated,” from The Strand, 500 W. 43rd St., where a fire broke out around 11 a.m. in a 20th floor apartment, Sudnik said.
Seven civilians and four firefighters were treated for minor injuries at the scene. More than 150 firefighters battled the blaze, which remains under investigation, for an hour and 40 minutes before it was extinguished.
“It was scary. We thought we were going to die,” said John Lupino, 40, who fled the building, barefoot, with his wife and two boys from their apartment on the 40th floor. The family forged through dense, choking smoke on the stairwell before the air cleared around the 17th floor, allowing them to breathe.
The FDNY typically advises people to remain in their apartments inside fireproof high-rises when fires erupt outside their own dwellings, said Sudnik. In this blaze, “it appears the victims in this fire may have been originally in their apartments, safe, and exited their apartments and became victims,” said Sudnik.
“The stairwells could have been more dangerous, but there was an overwhelming feeling to flee,” said Lupino, who planned to stay with a friend nearby. He and an unknown number of families were barred from returning to their apartments in the 41-story condo tower.
Another blaze at Toloache, a restaurant at 251 W. 50th, drew 40 to 50 firefighters from four ladder companies around 10 a.m., blocking traffic for at least an hour. There were no injuries, said Deputy Chief Tom McKavanagh. The restaurant blaze is believed to have begun as a result of “creosote buildup with in the duct work,” leading from a wood-burning oven, McKavanagh said.
Another fire summoned an “all hands” call to 346 E. 21St. around 12:46 p.m. Sunday. It took firefighters about 45 minutes to bring the blaze in that six-story building under control. There were no injuries reported. “It’s a lot of fires for a Sunday,” said an FDNY spokesman.
