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Massive Fire Breaks Out in Greenwich Village Apartment Building, FDNY Says

By  Ben Fractenberg and Teddy Grant | June 28, 2017 6:23pm | Updated on June 29, 2017 7:47am

 Firefighters battled a five-alarm blaze that started inside a deli in the East Village on Wednesday, June 28, 2017.
Firefighters battled a five-alarm blaze that started inside a deli in the East Village on Wednesday, June 28, 2017.
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DNAinfo/Janon Fisher

GREENWICH VILLAGE — More than 200 apartments were evacuated when a major fire broke out in an East Ninth Street apartment building Wednesday afternoon and raged into the night, spewing thick clouds of smoke into the neighborhood, officials said.

The blaze started in 60 E. Ninth St. near Broadway at about 5:45 p.m., an FDNY spokesman said. Nearly 200 firefighters responded to the scene and brought it under control by 9:15 p.m., officials said.

Five firefighters suffered minor injuries, an FDNY spokesman said Thursday morning.

Building resident Camille Collett, 44, said she was in her apartment when the blaze started. 

“I was inside reading and all of a sudden smelled something," Collett said. "You could see the haze through the window."

She said the smoke appeared to be coming from the top floor and roof, adding that she was worried because there "are a lot of elderly folks" living in the building. 

The Red Cross said more than 200 households were evacuated from the flaming building, according to a release they sent out about 11 p.m. Wednesday night.

They were offering emergency assistance to the displaced as well, they said.

The fire may have started in a ground-floor restaurant, but fire marshals still have to make an official determination on the cause of the fire, FDNY officials said.

Large plumes of dark smoke could be seen billowing from the building's roof while firefighters worked to put it out. 

R and W trains were still bypassing Eighth Street-NYU Thursday morning, but 6 trains, which had been bypassing Astor Place, were running normally, officials said.