A two-alarm fire at an East 147th Street apartment building Wednesday forced the evacuation of its tenants and students from a nearby school.
The fire took about an hour to extinguish, and five firefighters suffered minor injuries. The flames tore through four apartments on the building's fourth floor.
Fire officials say no one had been occupying the affected apartments and none of the residents were injured. More than 500 students at P.S. 277 were evacuated as a safety precaution.
The cause of the fire is under investigation. Residents believe faulty wiring may have been the source of the problem.
"I expected this because the electricity's been bad since I moved in here," says resident Louisa Abreu.