By Olivia Scheck
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN — Fire broke out in the Hudson Heights section of Upper Manhattan Friday night, leaving at least two cats seriously hurt, according to the FDNY and a witness account.
The blaze began around 8:30 p.m. on the fifth floor of 50 Overlook Terrace, between 186th and 187th Streets, fire officials said.
It burned until shortly before 10 p.m., according to the FDNY.
A large group of residents, dressed in Orthodox Jewish clothes, watched firefighters battle the blaze from outside the building, said neighbor Peter Fifield, who walked to the scene after smelling the smoke from his Bennett Avenue apartment.
While fire officials said there were only minor human injuries, Fifield, 45, reported seeing two cats in serious condition outside the building.
"I saw one lifeless cat being carried in the arms of a fireman,” he recalled, speculating that the cat may have been dead.
“There was another cat that was lying flat out where the fireman had dropped it,” Fifield added. “It had taken in smoke I guess.”
