Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
Firefighters Make Dramatic Rescues In Bronx Blaze
By
Ben Muessig
Published Feb 16, 2010
Modified Feb 16, 2010
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
By
Ben Muessig
Published Feb 16, 2010
Modified Feb 16, 2010
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
A fire ripped through a Bronx public housing project yesterday afternoon, forcing a woman to dangle a baby out of a fifth-story window while she waited for rescuers to arrive. The blaze broke out at around 2 pm inside a closet in an apartment in the Pelham Parkway Houses and quickly spread through the three-bedroom residence, sending victims to the windows gasping for air.
Unable to breathe, 18-year-old Vanessa Scott dangled her 7-month-old cousin Zaniyeh Hewitt out a window to keep the child from suffocating. She told the Daily News: "There was just smoke everywhere and flames. I couldn't get anywhere except for the window," she said. "You couldn't see anything." Two firefighters hauled a 35-foot ladder over a fence and rescued the baby and a six-year-old, then returned for Scott. Other firefighters were able to rescue two adults and a toddler after reaching them through an interior staircase.
But the the 7-month-old's father, Michel Alexander, wasn't so lucky. When firefighters arrived at the scene of the blaze, the 19-year-old was hanging out a window. "We were saying to him, 'Don't jump! Don't jump!'" said firefighter Sean O'Donnell. But Alexander jumped before rescuers could reach him. He struck an awning before falling to the pavement, breaking his wrist, ankle and nose, according to the Post. The tabloid notes that eight residents and two firefighters were hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries. "It went well," said O'Donnell. "Many jobs don't go this well."
Tagged
bronx
fdny
fire
fire department
infant
pelham
Pelham Parkway Houses
public housing
rescue
Ben Muessig
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Upper East Side braces for affordable housing fast track, and backlash from residents
A new land-use approval process could make it easier for developers to build larger apartment complexes in one of the city’s wealthiest, most densely populated neighborhoods.
By
David Brand
Published Sep 29, 2026 at 6:30 a.m. ET
Plan to modernize NYC's diesel-spewing produce market falls apart under Mamdani
Bronx officials are scrambling to try to salvage a transformative project worth $650 million.
By
Elizabeth Kim
News
Plan to modernize NYC's diesel-spewing produce market falls apart under Mamdani
Bronx officials are scrambling to try to salvage a transformative project worth $650 million.
By
Elizabeth Kim
Central Park birders, others remember 63-year-old woman killed in park
By
Charles Lane
Dump truck driver hits and kills cyclist on 34th Street in Midtown, NYPD says
By
Liam Quigley
New ingredient mandated for Latin American kitchen, restaurant plates in NJ
By
Arya Sundaram
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .