Emergency personnel responded to the partial collapse of an apartment building in New York City on Wednesday morning.
At 8:10 a.m., an incinerator shaft collapsed at the public housing apartment building on Alexander Avenue in the Bronx, Deputy Mayor Kaz Daughtry wrote on X.
A preliminary investigation suggests some type of explosion triggered the collapse, Mayor Eric Adams said at a news conference later in the day.
Fire Commissioner Robert Tucker told reporters: “It is a ventilation shaft connected to the boiler. We believe that’s where the explosion occurred.”
The fire department was first notified about an explosion just after 8 a.m., and officials said it responded in less than four minutes.
"When our units got here, they alerted us to a major collapse of a structure attached to this building behind us," Tucker said.
No injuries have been reported.
“There were no fatalities and no injuries as we have learned that this happened in the boiler room,” Bronx Borough President Vanessa L. Gibson told reporters.
Video from the scene showed a giant tear along the side of the building.
Con Edison has shut off gas in the building in response to the collapse, according to NYC Emergency Management.
The building has active violations, according to city buildings records.
"There are some open violations, but we don't know at this time if they have anything to do with this incident," Buildings Department Commissioner James S. Oddo said at the news conference Wednesday.
Oddo added that the building has "three open violations on boilers, but those were for non-safety-related defects."
The cause of the collapse had not been identified Wednesday afternoon, the fire department said on X.
State Assembly Member Amanda Septimo demanded accountability.
"We can’t be relying on luck to keep our communities safe," Septimo said at Wednesday’s news conference. "We send resources down from the state to make sure that boilers get fixed, to make sure that elevators get replaced. We have to get a clear accounting of what happened and who is responsible."