Fatality Confirmed In 5-Alarm NR Office Building Fire

NEW ROCHELLE, NY — In a statement to media, the New Rochelle Fire Department has confirmed the death of a person inside an office building that was the scene of a massive blaze Tuesday morning.

A stubborn 5-alarm fire has consumed the commercial building in a busy New Rochelle retail corridor near City Hall.

The fire broke out at the mixed-use retail and office building near North Ave. and 5th Ave. just before 6 a.m., according to a report from News 12 Westchester's Caren Pinto. New Rochelle Fire Department Chief Andrew Sandor confirmed to the television station that a super who lived in the building was unaccounted for as crews from New Rochelle and neighboring fire departments worked to extinguish the blaze.

"Today's details fire came in about 6 a.m. — crews arrived to find a heavy volume of fire towards the rear of the building on the 5th Avenue side," the New Rochelle Fire Department said in a statement released this morning. "Went right to the cocksloft and spread right across the building. The building is made of heavy old-time construction and it's very hard to get access to the fire itself. 5 alarm mutual aid towns from area departments. One fatality confirmed."

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A cockloft is a small loft or attic above the finished ceiling of the top floor of a building. In older buildings, the completely enclosed space between rafters and a suspended ceiling often does not have fire breaks. The building feature has proven a challenge to firefighters in several recent high-profile fires in New Rochelle.

Friends and colleagues of the supervisor congregated in a nearby residential area making phone calls, desperately attempting to find out if the building manager was okay.

There has been no word yet on the cause of the fire. The Westchester County Cause and Origin Team and a Westchester County Public Safety arson specialist were spotted on the scene with county arson detection dogs Acorn and Daisy, as is common practice in fires of this scale.

Shortly before 11 a.m., a 5th alarm was declared to bring more manpower to the scene. NRFD received support and coverage from Westchester County fire Departments, including Pelham, Eastchester, White Plains, Greenville and Yonkers.

Several roads in the area remain closed to traffic and officials are urging drivers to avoid the area.