Raging house fire in the Bronx leaves 1 dead, 3 injured in Soundview section
NEW YORK -- As people prepare to welcome in the new year Sunday night, families in the Bronx are cleaning up from the aftermath of two deadly fires that happened within hours from each other this weekend.
Plumes of smoke and fire poured out of a two-story home on Colgate Avenue in the Soundview section just after midnight.
"We just hear a big boom, and then from the back all we saw was just a lot of red through the windows, and lo and behold, we could smell the smoke," one person said.
The fire rapidly intensified and spread to several homes next door.
A 50-year-old man, FDNY says, died from the fire.
Now, on New Year's Eve, a time for families to celebrate a new beginning, residents are mourning the loss of their home, belongings and neighbors.
"It's really weird to see a neighbor in passing, say your hellos, and then knowing when you wake up in the morning, it could possibly be him that passed away," one person said.
The back of the home where the fire started was destroyed, and the blaze melted siding on neighboring homes and burned vehicles.
Macia Stewart says her mom and other family members managed to escape the fire.
"I consider her a blessed woman," Stewart said.
She showed CBS New York's Shosh Bedrosian the damage inside that stretches from house to house.
Once they smelled the smoke, they started grabbing important documents.
- Related story: 1 killed, 5 injured in Bronx apartment building fire
Just a few hours before and half a mile away, another fire broke out on Elder Avenue, where FDNY says a woman died. Residents say they were evacuated, and one man told us he waited all day to retrieve items from his apartment.
"[I slept] in the car ... A friend of ours, we slept over there temporarily," he said.
Two different streets, but both reeling from tragedy. In total, 10 people were taken to the hospital with injuries from both fires.
"It's just a weird string of unluckiness in this neighborhood right now," one person said.