NEWBURGH, N.Y. — More than 20 people were forced from their homes following a fire in Newburgh on Tuesday, and one of the families credits their young son for getting them out before the flames took over.
Walls covered in ash, personal belongings destroyed, holes in the roof — that is what’s left of a family’s Newburgh apartment after a fire tore through two multi-unit homes.
“I came outside and I was like oh no,” neighbor Ashalya Geter-Robenson said.
Nine-year-old Anthony Trujillo tells us he was up late watching TV Monday night and fell asleep in the living room when he heard yelling from the apartment down below.
“I hear them downstairs saying, oh, there’s a fire,” he said.
The fourth grader quickly alerted his family.
“I got up. I rushed to my mom’s door and I slammed on her door, so and then I woke her up, and then my dad was like, ‘What happened?’ And then I told them it was a fire,” Anthony said.
“Do you feel like a hero, that you woke the family up?” CBS New York’s Zinnia Maldonado said.
“A little bit, yeah,” Anthony said.
Anthony’s grandfather, Jose Trujillo, tells CBS New York the fire started in the house next door along Carter Avenue and quickly spread to their home.
“It’s sad, you know, because we are struggling with this and the way it is, they lost everything — house, clothing,” Trujillo said.
Both buildings have been condemned, which means the families will need to find new homes.
City officials say the cause of the fire remains under investigation but is not considered suspicious. This marks the second fire in this neighborhood in just a little more than a week.
“It’s strange, too much stuff happening at one time,” a neighbor said.
On Easter Sunday, more than 30 people were forced from their Newburgh apartments after a raging fire spread from house to house on nearby Lutheran Street.
“What a coincidence — a fire around the corner, three houses, and then over here. That’s crazy,” a neighbor said.
Back on Carter Street, Geter-Robenson witnessed huge flames bursting from the back of one of the buildings.
“They said it was spreading, so there’s trees and vines growing to the house, so I knew if it got over here, it would be bad over here, so I started grabbing my stuff, putting it on the side,” she said.
Everyone on the block is just glad nobody was hurt.
“Everybody is fine. We can continue with our life, you know,” Trujillo said.
Newburgh officials report more than 20 people were displaced. The Red Cross is assisting some victims, while others say they are now staying with family as the search for a new home begins.
