By Della Hasselle and Heather Grossmann
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MIDTOWN WEST — A fire broke out in a fancy high-rise residential building on Central Park South Friday afternoon, incinerating an entire apartment and temporarily shutting down Central Park South, according to FDNY.
Firefighters arrived at 150 Central Park South — known as "Hampshire House" — at 3:10 p.m. to fight the blaze, which ignited in a private residence on the 8th floor, according to the fire department.
Firemen had to break a window on the floor to get in and smoke poured out of the gaping hole.
"It was a really scary thing," said Kathryn Bonanno Patrizzi, 54, who lives opposite the burned apartment and who saw smoke seeping through her walls.
"I really thought my neighbor was gone. I opened the door and there was a lot of smoke. I thought to myself, 'Oh God, she could be dying.'"
She said she was yelling to her neighbor, "'Where are you? Where are you?' The smoke was like a black cloud."
Her neighbor was located downstairs. "She's in shock," said Patrizzi.
"I'm so thankful that she's okay."
One resident and two firemen were being treated for minor injuries, according to fire chief on the scene Thomas Marron.
Marron said the fire was out and FDNY was in the process of mopping up the 8th floor. He said they did not know what caused the fire and they were still investigating.
The 37-story building houses the exclusive Exhale Spa in addition to apartments that go for as much as $34 million, according to cityrealty.com.
Leta Amburgey, 33, of the Upper West Side, was taking a Pilates class at the spa when the fire broke out.
They weren't evacuated, she said, but the class could see water from the fire hoses falling onto a glass ceiling over spa.
"We could smell smoke and it looked like it was raining," Amburgey said.
She said she was shocked when she came outside after the class and saw all the fire trucks.
Central Park South between Fifth and Sixth avenues was closed to traffic for part of the afternoon.
Some residents and a throng of rubberneckers stood outside in the near-freezing weather as FDNY put up ladders into the building. More than 10 fire trucks were parked out front.
Michael Friedman, 77, was on his way home from his Midtown office when he saw the fire in his building. He said he trusted the FDNY and he wasn't worried.
"They have every bit of equipment you could imagine. It's going to be fine," said Friedman, who lives on the 17th floor. "I’m not worried. I presume the building is completely fireproof — I hope so anyway."
