Crime & Safety

Homeless Man's Tent Catches Fire In Wash Heights: Police

The man was playing with a lighter inside his tent on Broadway Monday morning when the tent erupted into flames, police said.

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The person hurt themselves in a fire that they'd lit on the street in order to stay warm on the below-freezing morning, fire officials said.
The person hurt themselves in a fire that they'd lit on the street in order to stay warm on the below-freezing morning, fire officials said. (Courtesy of Tim Lee)

WASHINGTON HEIGHTS, NY — A homeless man was burned Monday when he accidentally set fire to his tent in Washington Heights, according to officials.

The man was playing with a lighter inside his tent on Broadway and West 163rd Street shortly after 8:30 a.m. when it caught fire, the FDNY and police said.

Medics rushed the man, who suffered non-life threatening burns, to Harlem Hospital, according to officials.

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A worker at Columbia Deli, a nearby bodega, told Patch over the telephone he'd seen emergency responders arrive on the corner.

"I saw the police come with cameras," he said, adding that he believed the fire "was an accident."

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This small fire erupted one day after one of the most devastating blazes in the city's recent history — a massive fire in The Bronx Sunday claimed the lives of nine children and 10 adults.

It also came as forecasters predict a wind chill of 5 below zero Monday night.

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