1 Dead and 17 Injured in Harlem Apartment Fire

One person died and at least 17 people were injured in a two-alarm fire that tore through an apartment building in the Hamilton Heights area of Harlem on Friday, the authorities said.

The Fire Department responded to a call at 2:14 p.m. at 2 St. Nicholas Place, a six-story apartment building with 25 units, officials said. The fire started on the third floor and spread quickly through the floors above, according to the Fire Department.

Twelve people were taken to New York Health and Hospitals Harlem, the police said; five were in critical condition. One person died at the hospital, according to Joseph Pfeifer, the Fire Department’s first deputy commissioner.

When firefighters arrived, several residents were on the building’s fire escapes and three people were trapped, hanging out of fifth-floor windows. Three firefighters were lowered on ropes from the roof to help them.

“I told them not to jump, that we’re coming down to rescue them,” Firefighter Chris Lopez, who was involved in the rescue effort, said at a news conference Friday evening.

John Hodgens, the Fire Department’s chief of department, said at the news conference that the firefighters usually conduct one or two rope rescues a year. One person jumped out of a window just before firefighters arrived, Chief Hodgens said. Separately, three people were found unconscious on the sixth floor, he said.