New York City's worst fire disaster in more than 30 years was sparked by a faulty space heater, officials confirmed on Sunday night - killing nine children and ten adults, and leaving dozens more critically injured.
The five-alarm blaze erupted shortly before 11am on the second and third floor of a 19-story building at 333 East 181st Street in the Bronx.
FDNY commissioner Daniel Nigro said that 'very heavy' fire and smoke 'extended the entire height of the building' and confirmed that a space heater caused the blaze.
'We are investigating where everyone was found, and how the smoke travelled. But marshals have determined that this fire started in a bedroom, in a portable heater. The heat was on in the building. This was being used to supplement the heat,' he said.
Nigro said that the smoke alarms were on, and working, in the 1972-built apartment block.
'There were functioning smoke alarms throughout the building,' he said. 'The first call was a resident hearing the smoke alarm and reporting it.'
There have not been any major building violations or complaints listed against the building, according to city building records obtained by CNN. Past minor violations were rectified by the property and there were no structural violations listed.
The New York Post reported that there were more than two dozen violations and complaints since 2013 - despite $25 million in state loans for repairs.
The citations, including for vermin infestation and faulty elevators, came after the 2013 infusion of state cash - and before the building was sold to an investment group two years ago.
The building was most recently the subject of a DOB complaint on March 25 for not having a working elevator, with a similar complaint filed on April 9, 2019. Another complaint cited scaffolding that did not meet safety standards in 2015.
Several residents said the fire alarms were always going off, and residents ignored them.
'First we heard the fire alarm go off. Numerous times,' said Michael Joseph, 32, who lived on the sixth floor with his uncle.
He told DailyMail.com: 'But we didn't think nothing of it, because normally people in the building, they smoke and tend to set it off. So we thought it was probably just people playing.'
He also recounted he and his uncle's desperate escape, with the scene in the stairwell described as 'the most horrific thing I've ever seen.'
New York City's worst fire disaster in more than 30 years that broke out on the second and third floor of a building at 333 East 181st Street in the Bronx has killed nine children and ten adults (pictured, people jump to safety from the burning building)
FDNY commissioner Daniel Nigro said that 'very heavy' fire and smoke 'extended the entire height of the building' and confirmed that a space heater caused the blaze. Firefighters were pictured rescuing residents from the blaze early on Sunday
The five-alarm blaze, confirmed late on Sunday to have been caused by a space heather, erupted shortly before 11am on Sunday morning in the Bronx (pictured, firefighters at the scene of the tragedy)
Emergency personnel from the FDNY provide medical aid as they respond to the fire - New York City's worst in more than 30 years - on Sunday morning
Emergency personnel from the New York Fire Department responded to the apartment building fire in the Bronx on Sunday morning
Firefighters were stationed outside the 19-storey apartment block in the Bronx after a faulty space heater caused a massive blaze on Sunday morning
Sheets were seen hanging from the windows of the apartment building at 333 East 181st Street in the Bronx on Sunday after a blaze broke out and killed 19
The two-storey blaze gutted the Bronx apartment building on 333 East 181st Street and tens of residents were taken to safety by firefighters through the windows
Forensic teams arrived late on Sunday to help clear the site of a deadly apartment fire in the Bronx - New York City's worst fire disaster in more than 30 years
Clean-up crews and forensic teams are pictured outside the Bronx apartment building following Sunday morning's deadly fire
Forensic investigators were seen leaving the site late on Sunday after a fire in a 19-storey apartment building killed 19, including nine children, in a blaze officials said was started by a faulty space heater
An aerial view of the Bronx apartment block on Sunday evening, as white-clothed investigators continued to work late into the evening
The 19-storey apartment building was blocked off on Sunday following a deadly blaze that killed 19, including nine children, after a faulty space heater sparked a fire
A police crime scene unit was set up at the site of New York's worst fire disaster in 30 years in the Bronx on Sunday as forensic investigators combed the site into the evening
'We looked out the window and we saw all the fire people. Firefighters, firefighters, firefighters,' said Joseph.
'The smoke came through our door. Our whole house was jet black - smoke so thick we couldn't breathe.
'We almost died in there.'
Joseph, who has lived in the apartment for six years, said he and his uncle tried to stem the smoke pouring in.
'We tried everything - we tried to put a fan on. We tried to stay in the bathroom. Nothing worked,' he said.
'So it got to the point where I said, we have to go. We have to do something now, or else we'll die in here.'
Joseph said he and his uncle decided to make a run for it.
'So I finally opened the door - and in the hallway it was all gone. It was the most horrific thing I've ever seen. So he passed out.
'So I had to go through the staircase and all you see is people trampling over each other, people getting hurt, stomped on, all kind of things.
'It was flooded with water and smoke. And I finally got to the bottom and I sent them to get my uncle. That's why he is alive now.'
Joseph said he was relieved to have survived the ordeal.
'They made us wait until the laundromat until it was all clear. We did make it. And they sent us here.'
He said the authorities were helping, and he had been given a hotel for the night.
'We are getting shelter, food, clothes,' he said.
'We have to wait. They are allowing people to go in to get their medication and that's it. I just feel so bad for those who lost.'
Firefighters were on site through Sunday evening after a five-alarm blaze which erupted shortly before 11am on the second and third floor of a 19-story building at 333 East 181st Street in the Bronx, killing 19 and injuring at least 63
Firefighters were stationed outside the 19-storey apartment block in the Bronx after a faulty space heater caused a massive blaze on Sunday morning
Workers are seen readying to enter the building and begin the cleaning process
Eric Adams, the mayor of New York, said the whole city was devastated by the loss of life, adding: 'We're all feeling this'
Aesha Jones, whose mother Julie Fowler lives on the ninth floor. Jones said that their family escaped unharmed, but family friends lost relatives
Chuck Schumer, senator for New York, speaks on Sunday evening at the scene of the fire, with the governor, Kathy Hochul, beside him and the mayor, Eric Adams, behind him
His uncle, Joseph Brannigan, 61, who has terminal cancer, thanked the fire department for saving him.
'My nephew said, 'Joey, we have to get down the stairs, and I said, 'We can't. There's too much smoke in the hallway,'' Brannigan told The New York Post.
'He said, 'C'mon, we're going to die in here.'
'As we tried to get out of the apartment, he grabbed my hand. I lost his hand, and I said, 'Where are you?' I collapsed on the floor of my hallway.
'Next thing I know, the firemen are dragging me into my apartment.
'The firemen smashed all the windows and put oxygen on me.'
He said he was overjoyed to have survived.
'We won the lottery of life, the big jackpot,' Brannigan said.
'We lost everything in the fire. We lost everything. [But] we are the richest people in the world because we won the lottery of life today.'
Chanasia Hunter, who lives on the 10th floor, agreed that the fire alarms would go off frequently.
She told CNN affiliate WABC: 'How are supposed to know it's a fire if it's always going off?'
She said the only way she found out the fire alarm was legitimate was when a person who lived on the third floor - where the flames were burning - called her.
'I looked out the back of the window and that's where we see the fire just fighting outside the window, and they have to break open the windows to let people out,' Hunter said.
'We heard screaming, we saw the windows bursting out. We saw people getting saved.'
Hunter said she was able to escape because officials knocked on her door. She said smoke was coming into people's apartments.
'I was coming down the stairs and saw a body sitting on the floor. This is crazy, this building has been here for years and this has never happened before,' she said.
'I'm just sad because this is like a family.
'We lost a lot of lives, and it hurts very bad, especially children and even elders. I see these people every day, it's hurtful.' 
Michael Joseph (left), 32, told DailyMail.com that the stairwell, where he fled the building, was 'the most horrific thing I've ever seen' - with people trampling each other to escape, and the building full of smoke and water. Dana Campbell (right) said she watched in horror as her six children begged to be rescued from their third-floor apartment
Kathy Hochul, the governor of New York, told those caught up in the fire: 'It's hard to fathom what they are going through. We will not forget you, we will not abandon you - we are here for you'
Asked whether people knew how to escape, Nigro said: 'On buildings like this there are no fire escapes. There are interior stairways. So people would have been aware of the exits.
'I think some of them could not escape due to the volume of smoke.'
He added: 'Members found victims on every floor, in stairwells.
'The last time we had a loss of life that may be this horrific was a fire which was over 30 years ago, also here in the Bronx,' he added.
Commissioner Nigro said the door to the apartment where the fire started was left open, which helped fuel the fire and allowed the smoke to spread.
'We've spread the word, 'close the door, close the door,' to keep a fire contained, he said.
Dana Campbell, a 45-year-old City Parks employee, said that she was not home at the time of the fire, but her six children were inside - and she had to watch from the sidewalk as they screamed for help from the third floor bedroom.
'They were trapped in a bedroom screaming for help out the window,' she told DailyMail.com.
'I was on the sidewalk and I couldn't help them.
'I was watching them screaming for help and I couldn't help them.'
She said they told her it was 'horrific'.
'It was scary for them. They saw black smoke, they saw flames.'
Campbell said that she was never particularly concerned about the risk of fire, and was proud of her children - the oldest aged 19 - for their quick thinking.
'My thought was always that the building was built to not burn. The overall structure is intact, I guess.
'I never really had concern for fire.
'We have two smoke detectors.
'We had a plan, but when it happened I wasn't home.
'They started to panic.
'But they were smart - they put wet towels by the doors, and filled the bath.'
All six escaped unharmed, and are currently sheltering at the Red Cross center.
Julia Fowler, who lives on the ninth floor, told DailyMail.com that a relative told her to flee.
'My sister got an alert from Citizen app, she told me it was a fire,' said Fowler.
'When I looked on Citizen app it was behind my building, and that's when I saw it.
'I heard people screaming 'fire, fire' - you know, my sister told me don't go out
'I was going to open the door, my sister told me not to. They told us to stay inside.
'We saw a lot of people run to the ambulance, rushing.'
She said she was unsure if anyone she knows was affected.
'It looked as if it started from the back of the building. I told my kids to get up, get dressed, just in case. We had the window open, but the smoke was so heavy, we closed it
'The fire department banged on the door, asked if we were okay, and said stay inside.
'I have a 10 year-old, he's asthmatic, He threw up a little bit. He was shaking.
'We left after fire department said it was safe. Our apartment wasn't damaged.'
Fowler's daughter Aesha Jones, 28, who lives in Harlem, said she rushed to the scene on hearing about the fire.
'I wasn't here, I saw it on the news and I rushed over,' she told DailyMail.com.
She said she was terrified for her family, but added: 'Everyone got out safely, thank God.
'My sister was actually waking up with flames at her window. Thank God she didn't get contact with smoke inhalation.
'I spoke to the mayor, he said the mayor's office is going to order hotels for the families. Red Cross is out too.
'A couple of my family's friends passed away, sadly.'
Firefighters are seen on the scene of Sunday's fire
Firefighters are pictured on the scene as night fell on Sunday
Firefighters were hampered by icy conditions and the air tanks running empty, the fire commissioner said - but he praised his team for pushing through
The 1972 building had 120 apartments, and did have working smoke alarms, officials said
Cristal Diaz, who lives in the fifth floor of the building, told the New York Post: 'We didn't know what to do. We looked out the windows and saw all the dead bodies they were taking with the blankets.'
Diaz's niece, 13-year-old Alanny, reportedly saw 'moms fainting at the sight of their kids dying.'
Eric Adams, the mayor of New York, paid tribute to the 200 firefighters who responded to the call.
'Their oxygen tanks were empty and they still pushed through the smoke,' he said.
'You can't do this unless you're attached to the city and the community.
'And I want to thank them.'
Adams said the whole city was devastated by the loss of life.
'Nineteen deaths. Nine children, babies, that we lost,' he said.
'We're all feeling this.'
He said the city would provide counseling at the schools which were attended by victims and those caught up in the fire, and said the Red Cross and Office of Emergency Management were working to coordinate housing.
'It's so important we have faith leaders here,' he added, noting that Sheikh Musa Drammeh, a Gambia-born Muslim preacher, was on the scene.
'It was a large Muslim popular. Many came from Gambia,' said Adams.
He said they will 'respect the burial rites of the Muslim community, as well as others.'
A GoFundMe set up by Salim Drammeh, another Gambian community organizer, had raised $16,000 in the first two hours.
Kathy Hochul, the governor of New York, announced that she was setting up a victims' compensation fund for those affected by the fire.
'It's hard to fathom what they are going through,' she said.
'We will not forget you, we will not abandon you - we are here for you.
'Tonight is a night of tragedy and pain, but tomorrow we begin to rebuilt.'
She said it was particularly poignant for 'those who came all the way from Africa, in search of a better life right here in this great borough.'
Adams stressed that anyone who seeks help should be reassured that they will not be handed over to immigration authorities as a result of coming forward.
'Your names will not be turned over to ICE or any other institution,' Adams said, urging those in need to come forward for assistance.
'It is imperative we get the word out.'
People sit inside a Red Cross Resource Center following the apartment building fire in the Bronx
Families who were evacuated with their pets are seen at a shelter in the Bronx following the fire
A woman wrapped in a Red Cross blanket is pictured inside a shelter in the Bronx following the fire
Firefighters work outside an apartment building after a fire in the Bronx, on January 9, 2022, in New York.
Firefighters stand in front of the apartment building at 333 East 181st Street in the Bronx
A curtain hangs outside a window at an apartment building in the Bronx on Sunday. Fire crews pulled out victims out of windows
The scene at the fire in the Bronx, which authorities are calling the 'worst in 30 years' in New York City
Neighbors watch firefighters from their windows after a deadly fire in the Bronx
Chuck Schumer, a senator for New York, promised to mobilize Washington to help.
'We pledge to do whatever we can at the federal level,' he said.
'New Yorkers are united. When there is a tragedy, we stand together.
'We come together, we embrace each other, and we stand with our brothers and sisters.'
Harrowing stories were beginning to emerge on Sunday of escape through the burning building.
'We tried to go down through the stairs but there was a lot of smoke, so we had to stop at the sixth floor and we were able to get into a neighbor's home. We stayed there until the firefighters came and they were able to guide us out of the building,' a woman told DailyMail.com.
'You couldn't see anything. It was pitch-black,' she said, adding that her three-year-old daughter had been momentarily missing amid the chaos.
The fire at the Twin Parks North West complex quickly progressed. At the scene, firefighters could be seen pulling desperate victims out of windows.
A hazardous material team was requested to retrieve a lithium ion battery. Fire Marshals are investigating.
More than 200 firefighters across the borough responded to the scene.
The FDNY said icy conditions made it difficult for firefighters to put out the blaze.
'The impact of this fire is going to really bring a level of pain and despair in this city,' Adams said during a press conference early on Sunday, shortly after the blaze was extinguished.
'The numbers are horrific. We have over 32 people who are life-threatening at this time. This is going to be one of the worst fires we have witnessed in the City of New York in modern times.'
Emergency personnel from the FDNY provide medical aid as they respond to an apartment building fire in the Bronx borough of New York
Firefighters rescue victims from the fire in the Bronx on Sunday
The five-alarm blaze erupted shortly before 11 am on the third floor of a 19-story building at 333 East 181st Street
Fire Commissioner Dan Nigro briefs the press on the horrific fire
It took 200 firefighters an hour to put out the blaze due to the icy conditions
Firefighters aid a victim at the scene of the massive fire in Fordham Heights
Nineteen were treated at the scene and 35 others have been taken to nearby hospitals, many of whom are in serious conditions, officials said.
The death toll of Sunday's fire is set to become the worst in 30 years for New York City, second only to the Happy land club fire in 1990, in which 87 people died after an arsonist used $1 worth of gasoline to set the club on fire.
Firefighters work at the scene of a fatal fire at an apartment building in the Bronx on Sunday
Firefighters work outside an apartment building after a fire in the Bronx
The five-alarm blaze erupted shortly before 11 am on the third floor of the 19-story building
'The smoke conditions in this building are unprecedented,' Fire Commissioner Dan Nigro said
News photographers at the scene captured images of firefighters entering the upper floors of the burning building on a ladder, multiple limp children being given oxygen after being carried from the building and evacuees with their faces covered in soot.
Sunday's blaze came just days after a Philadelphia house fire killed 12 people, including eight children.
That was the deadliest fire at a U.S. residential apartment building since 2017, when 13 people died in an apartment in the Bronx, according to data from the National Fire Protection Association.
That fire started after a three-year-old boy was playing with stove burners.
The deadliest fire prior to that was in 1989 when a Tennessee apartment building fire claimed the lives of 16 people.
The commissioner added that the apartment where the fire originated had its door opened, allowing for the blaze to spread throughout the building.
'This is a horrific, horrific, painful moment for the City of New York,' Adams said.
Emergency first responders remain at the scene after an intense fire at a 19-story residential building
The Bronx 5-alarm fire left 19 dead and numerous serious injuries
The commissioner added that the apartment where the fire originated had its door opened, allowing for the blaze to spread throughout the building
Fire crews attend the scene at the horrific fire
'This is a horrific, horrific, painful moment for the City of New York,' Mayor Eric Adams said
The fire at the Twins Park North West killed 87 victims
A firefighter looks down at the tragic scene of the deadly fire
Diaz said she fled her apartment upon learning about the fire.
'I was drinking coffee in the living room and I started smelling smoke. We started putting water on towels and the bottom of the door. Everything was crazy,' Diaz told the Post.
'We saw a bunch of bodies coming out. People from my childhood were dying,' her niece, Alanny added.
Twitter user Hennessy Castillo recounted on the platform her escape from the blaze.
'I was there, I made It out safely, but I could barely breath, I have asthma and I am very happy that I made it out safely, but I don't know what started the fire, all I know is that I heard a lot of people screaming for help, some windows were broken but some people were fainted,' Castillo tweeted.
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