Yonkers Row Homes Fire Injures Firefighters, Dozens Left Homeless

YONKERS, NY — More than 80 Yonkers residents were displaced by a Sunday afternoon fire that consumed four row homes in the city.

The Red Cross and the Yonkers Office of Emergency Management set up a reception center at Nodine Community Center for the victims of the multi-home fire. In addition to providing hot meals, beverages and comfort items for the more than a dozen families who were displaced, the Red Cross told Patch that disaster mental health volunteers were on hand throughout the evening to offer counseling to fire victims who, in some cases, lost everything but their lives.

Thirteen firefighters were injured fighting the blaze, NBC News-affiliate WNBC reported. None of the injuries are considered serious. One resident is also said to have suffered minor injuries.

The fire response, which involved nearly every firefighter in the city, was complicated by the unseasonably hot temperature. Sunday's high temperature in the region hit 86 degrees.

"All our equipment is meant to keep the heat out," Yonkers Fire Department Deputy Chief Joseph Citrone told NBC News reporter Ida Siegal. "So, it actually also keeps everything in and it's just very difficult with the amount of protection that we have on, even just working outside."

The fire is believed to have started in the yard of one of the row homes, but quickly spread to additional houses. The fire department initially responded to a 911 about a report of furniture that caught fire.