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by THE NEW YORK TIMES
Twenty-eight firefighters and three residents of a high-rise apartment building in Chinatown were injured yesterday in a three-alarm fire that was fueled by heavy winds, a Fire Department spokesman said.
Several firefighters suffered second-degree burns on their heads, necks or hands, and others were treated for heat exhaustion. Two residents were treated for heat exhaustion, while another had a heart problem, possibly from rushing down the stairs to escape, officials said.
Everyone had been released from the hospital last evening, fire officials said.
The fire was not considered suspicious, but the cause was still under investigation, said Sean Johnson, a Fire Department spokesman.
The fire started just before 6 a.m. in an apartment on the 37th floor of 20 Confucius Plaza, a 44-story housing project just south of the Manhattan Bridge, near 1 Police Plaza. The building, with 762 apartments, was completed in 1976.
Nobody was in the apartment at the time, Mr. Johnson said. The heavy winds made the fire difficult to contain, he added.
The temperature in the apartment reached 1,000 degrees and melted the front door, he said. Firefighters broke through the walls of an adjacent unit to gain entry to the apartment.
The Fire Department did not release names of the injured firefighters or residents.
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