MANHATTAN — Three people were hurt when a fire erupted inside an Upper East Side apartment building Thursday morning, an FDNY spokesman said.
Flames erupted on the fourth floor of 1562 Third Ave., near East 88th Street, and spread to the fifth about 2:10 a.m., the spokesman said.
About 106 firefighters helped bring the blaze under control by 5 a.m., officials said.
Three people were treated for minor injuries at Lenox Hill Hospital, they added.
A small group of residents of the building were still standing outside at about 11 a.m., as fire fighters assessed the damage.
All tenants of the building, including the Hale and Hearty on the ground floor, were evacuated, according to the FDNY. It is unknown when the residents will be able to return to their homes.
The fourth and fifth floors were visibly charred black and the smell of smoke lingered in the air. Tenants' belongings — VHS tapes; an Edith Piaf record; books, including "The Secret of Letting Go"; cabinets; chairs; a mattress and a teddy bear — were strewn out on the street.
Chris Erlandson, who lives in the building, said he woke up to the sound of his neighbors yelling and knocking on doors. He woke up his roommate and they both escaped their third-floor apartment without injury, he said.
"They took the hose through our window," said Erlandson, standing outside in his pajamas.
Steven Anderson, a manager at Hale & Hearty, handed out soup and crackers to the victims of the fire.
"It's the least I can do," he said. "I am trying to be a good neighbor. It's a lot worse for them than it is for me."
Erlandson said a stranger came by earlier with doughnuts and coffee for them, too.
"It's New Yorkers looking out for New Yorkers," he said.
The source of the fire was later determined to be electrical, according to the FDNY.
