NEW YORK — Four people were injured and nearly two dozen families displaced Friday followingnoon following a devastating fire that authorities say started in the souvenir shop on the ground floor of the Chinatown building.
Intense flames erupt from the front of the Mott Street gift shop around 2:30 pm and I went up to the second floor, home of a family association. Dozens of people living on the upper floors ran to evacuate as fire and smoke consumed the lower floors of the building.
“I spoke to a tenant who had to escape down the fire escape in front of the building and helped two other residents down, a woman was with a small child,” said Assemblywoman Grace Lee.
The American Red Cross has been activated in hopes of connecting the 21 families living in the building with housing waiting to hear what happens to their home.
Two civilians and two firefighters were said to have suffered minor injuries in the chaos.
The cause of the fire will be determined by FDNY investigators.
