CLAREMONT VILLAGE — A man in a wheelchair was seriously injured when a fire erupted in his first-floor apartment in the Bronx Tuesday night, neighbors said.
The man, whose name was not immediately released, was home with his wife at 1796 Vyse Ave., near Boston Road, but behind a locked door when the flames broke about 9 p.m., neighbors and FDNY officials said.
BX ALL HANDS 1796 VYSE AVE, MULTIPLE DWELLING FIRE ON 1ST FLR, UNDER CONTROL
— FDNYalerts (@FDNYAlerts) April 6, 2016
Neighbors and the building's super rushed in and tried to pull him to safety, but couldn't reach him, they said.
"I tried to go in. We got close to the back room and the flame was too much. We tried to kick the door in but we had to run back out," said upstairs neighbor Steven Lopez, 23.
"I'm a brave individual, but there was only so much I could do. We tried to fight the flames, but the smoke kept burning out my eyes like pepper spray. I kept trying to go back, but I couldn't take it," Lopez added.
The man, who neighbors said uses a wheelchair, was seriously injured and treated at Jacobi Medical Center, officials said.
His wife wasn't injured in the blaze, officials said. She is staying with family, according to the building's super, who declined to give his name.
Neighbors talked to her moments before the flames erupted.
"I was just talking to her, then I came here and the next thing I know I hear the fire department," said Edith Spells, 54, who lives on the same floor.
Firefighters brought the blaze under control about 30 minutes after it started, an FDNY spokesman said.
Fire marshals will determine its cause, the spokesman said.
