NYC Fire: Huge Blaze At Broadway And Ninth Street Sends Smoke Billowing Over City

LOWER MANHATTAN, NY — A huge fire atop an East Ninth Street building near Broadway sent plumes of smoke billowing over Manhattan on Wednesday evening. At least 200 firefighters tackled the blaze, according to city fire officials.

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Firefighter had extinguished most of the flames by 8:30 p.m., and the fire was reported to be under control.

Investigators currently believe that the Greenwich Village-area fire broke out in a deli in the massive building. The fire spread to the top floor of the six-story structure, fire officials said. Police also responded to the fire at 60 East Ninth St. at about 5:45 p.m., fire officials said.

Authorities initially believed that the fire started on the top floor of the Ninth Street apartment building, but now believe that the blaze started in Bully's Deli, whose doors open at 759 Broadway, before spreading to above floors in the apartment building, according to fire officials. Once at the top of the building, the blaze quickly tore through two apartments as well as a small loft, authorities said.

"The members made a very aggressive interior attack to stop this fire and hold it in one wing to one floor," FDNY Commissioner Daniel Nigro said after the blaze was extinguished. "The smoke banked down and obscured the surrounding buildings so the members really had their work cut out for them."

Five firefighters were injured in the blaze, officials said Wednesday night. Their conditions are unknown. No civilian injuries were reported, an FDNY spokesman said.

It's still unknown how the fire started.

The building that caught fire is an historic Greenwich Village co-op from the 1950s called The Hamilton, online real-estate listings show. It's described as a "full service" building with more than 200 apartments, a common garden area, an elevator and a 24-hour doorman. One-bedroom apartments in The Hamilton sell for around $1 million, according to StreetEasy.

The large building stretches down Broadway between East Ninth Street and East Eighth Street. The Broadway side of the structure includes storefronts like Famous Famiglia Pizza and the deli where the blaze is believed to have originated.

Dozens of building residents crowded outside 60 East Ninth St. on Wednesday evening with their children and pets, waiting for news about when their homes would be safe to re-enter. Residents told Patch that firefighters had said it was unlikely they would be able to return to their homes on Wednesday night.

Firefighters smashed multiple windows on the top two floors of the building while trying to extinguish the blaze.

One resident of The Hamilton, who declined to give her name, told Patch that she was waiting for the opportunity to rescue her dog, who had been trapped inside.

Dramatic witness video posted to social media Wednesday showed flames and smoke shooting out of the roof.

Simone Wilson contributed to this report.

Lead image courtesy of FDNY; secondary image via Ciara McCarthy / Patch.