Fire burns building in Bx., 8 hurt

Eight people were injured, three seriously, in a fire in a Bronx housing project early Wednesday, officials said.

The blaze was sparked by a space heater accidentally left too close to combustible material in a second-floor apartment in NYCHA’s University Avenue Rehab complex on University Ave. near W. Burnside Ave. in Morris Heights about 1:50 a.m., authorities said.

The flames soon spread to the third and fourth floors.

“People were banging on the door, banging and running, yelling ‘fire!’” said Kyle Ballard, 48, who has lived in the building for three decades. “I look, it’s so smoky in my house … We just sat there and prayed.”

Eight civilians were injured with six taken to local hospitals, officials said. Three had serious, non-lifethreatening injuries.

It took 106 firefighters nearly 90 minutes to bring the two-alarm blaze under control, officials said.

Julie Pena, 32, is a lifelong resident of the apartment just above the home where the blaze started. Her home was destroyed, leaving her and her two kids and cat Luna nowhere to go, she says

“I lost everything,” she said. “It’s just sad, you know.”

Residents said a lack of heat in recent months forced them to use space heaters throughout the winter.

NYCHA did not return a request for comment.