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Massive Fire Engulfs Landmarked UWS Building

By  Janon Fisher and Ben Fractenberg | March 20, 2014 9:58pm 

 A massive fire engulfed a brownstone apartment building near the American Natural History Museum on West 76th Street on Thursday, March 20, 2014.
A massive fire engulfed a brownstone apartment building near the American Natural History Museum on West 76th Street on Thursday, March 20, 2014.
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FDNY

UPPER WEST SIDE — A massive fire in a landmarked apartment building filled the sky with smoke and flames near the American Museum of Natural History Thursday night.

About 10 firefighters were taken to area hospitals with minor injuries, an FDNY spokesman said.

The blaze at 23 West 76th St., a six-story 100-year-old brownstone, broke out about 6 p.m. and spread throughout four floors, an FDNY spokesman said.

It took 39 department units and 170 firefighters to extinguish the fire by about 9 p.m., officials said.

Niko Koutsogiannis, 32, who lives in the building with his wife, said he first noticed smoke in his living room.

"I opened a window and I saw smoke on top of us and smoke below us," he said.

Koutsogiannis told his wife to grab her stuff and get out.

Buildings Department records indicate there were several complaints about unauthorized plumbing and unsafe construction to the property earlier this year, but none of the complaints were substantiated.

The FDNY's investigation is ongoing.