Three Firefighters Injured Battling Rooftop Blaze on UES
The massive fire on Friday morning sent black smoke over much of the UES. Emergency vehicles filled streets from East 96th Street down to East 86th, between First and Second avenues.
| 16 Aug 2025 | 03:16
Parts of the UES were enveloped in thick black smoke the morning of Aug. 15 as firefighters worked to extinguish a rooftop blaze at 305 E. 95th St. (
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The blaze that started on the rooftop spread to the cockloft, the area between the building’s roof and the ceiling of the three penthouse apartments atop the seven-story luxury rental building. (
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The fire started on the rooftop of 305 E. 95th St. between First and Second avenues around 10am on Aug. 15. It eventually went to three alarms and involved 170 firefighters and EMT personnel. (
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Firefighters were able to quickly extinguish the blaze that erutped at 305 E. 95th St. The fire started on the roof and spread to the cockloft and three penthouse apartments on the top floor of the seven-story building. (
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Deputy Assistant Chief James Canty, center, said three firefighters suffered minor injuries but that the blaze was quickly extinguished, preventing its spread to adjoining buildings. (
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A massive rooftop fire tore through three penthouse apartments atop a luxury seven-story rental building on the morning of Aug. 15, enveloping part on the UES in black smoke.
The fire started shortly after 10am at 305 E. 95th St., close to Second Avenue, and three firefighters suffered minor injuries battling the blaze and were treated at the scene. Neighborhood streets, from East 86th Street to East 95th, were shut down for several hours. The building’s superintendent, who was in the basement when the blaze erupted, also suffered a minor injury and was treated at the scene.
“The fire quickly extended to the cockloft, the area on the top floor between the ceiling and the roof,” said Deputy Assistant Chief James Canty at a press conference shortly after noon, after the fire had been brought under control.
One poster on Citizen said that the penthouses damaged in the blaze appear to be units added later to the original 1910 structure.
Canty said firefighters “arrived within four minutes and were able to get water on the fire, and were able to contain it to the one building, stopping it from spreading to the adjoining buildings.”
Eventually 40 units comprising 170 firefighters and EMT personnel responded to the three-alarm blaze, a job made more complicated as temperatures soared toward the 90-degree mark. “In the summer, there is a problem with our bunker gear,” Canty said, referring to the heavy-duty protective outfits that firefighters wear. “They overheat, and that’s why it went to three alarms so quickly,” he explained.
Canty did not pinpoint the cause of the fire but said it started on the rooftop itself. One user on Citizen said that a huge explosion was heard right before the fire erupted, but that could not be confirmed. “It’s under further investigation. Fire marshals will follow up,” Canty said.
Firefighters continued to rip open walls and ceiling spaces checking for further pockets of fire, but it appeared the blaze was completely extinguished by noon.
“In the summer, there is a problem with our bunker gear: They overheat and that’s why it went to three alarms so quickly.” — Deputy Assistant Chief James Canty