Fire at White Plains apartment building leaves dozens homeless, several injured

Frank Becerra Jr. and Mike Randall, Rockland/Westchester Journal News
Updated ·2 min read

A fire in a White Plains apartment building has left several injured and dozens homeless.

The fire, reported around midnight Tuesday at Half Moon Apartments at 11 Lake St., apparently started in a first-floor apartment and spread upward in the seven-story building.

The fire was in the left wing of the large apartment building, forcing the evacuations of more than 100 residents, some of whom watched firefighters from a park across the street.

Resident Eddie Pagan said he helped as a woman on the first floor threw her dog out of a window and then jumped herself, and was injured in the fall.

An elderly resident of the building is evacuated from the scene as White Plains firefighters battle a fire in an apartment building at 11 Lake Street in White Plains April 18, 2023. The fire broke out shortly after midnight, injuring several residents and leaving dozens homeless.
An elderly resident of the building is evacuated from the scene as White Plains firefighters battle a fire in an apartment building at 11 Lake Street in White Plains April 18, 2023. The fire broke out shortly after midnight, injuring several residents and leaving dozens homeless.

Every piece of fire apparatus in the City of White Plains was called to the scene, in addition to units from Fairview, Hartsdale and Greenville. Firefighters had the blaze under control in about two hours. Several ambulances were called to the scene to transport the injured.

No cause for the fire has been released yet. The White Plains Fire Department said Tuesday their investigation was continuing.

Several firefighters were treated with oxygen at the scene. The Red Cross was called to the scene to assist the dozens left without a home.

White Plains firefighters work at the scene of a fire in an apartment building at 11 Lake Street in White Plains April 18, 2023. The fire broke out shortly after midnight, injuring several residents and leaving dozens homeless.
White Plains firefighters work at the scene of a fire in an apartment building at 11 Lake Street in White Plains April 18, 2023. The fire broke out shortly after midnight, injuring several residents and leaving dozens homeless.

Desiree Ramos Reiner, an external affairs officer with the Red Cross, said initially the agency thought residents from as many as 100 apartments might be displaced. But she said many of them have since been allowed to move back into their apartments.

Reiner said residents of seven apartments - with a total of 11 adults and five children - are going to be displaced long-term by the fire, and the Red Cross was reaching out to them.

A family that was forced to flee the fire watches from across the street as White Plains firefighters battle a blaze in an apartment building at 11 Lake Street in White Plains April 18, 2023. The fire broke out shortly after midnight, injuring several residents and leaving dozens homeless.
A family that was forced to flee the fire watches from across the street as White Plains firefighters battle a blaze in an apartment building at 11 Lake Street in White Plains April 18, 2023. The fire broke out shortly after midnight, injuring several residents and leaving dozens homeless.

They were temporarily being housed in a youth center until arrangements for longer-term housing can be made.

Reiner said the Red Cross is also providing them with financial assistance, disaster and mental health counseling, and help getting any medical supplies lost during the fire, including medications and glasses.

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Apartment building fire White Plains NY leaves dozens homeless