Thirty-three years ago this month a fire ripped through a Hartsdale apartment building – severely damaging the 68 apartments that weren’t repaired for more than three years.
The fire at Country Club Cooperative, 68 East Hartsdale Ave. on May 23, 1993, broke out on the top floor of the 6-story brick and Tudor-style building at about 3:30 am.
It burned out of control for hours as firefighters – who initially encountered so much smoke on the street that they weren’t sure which building had caught on fire – could only reach the fire on the roof in the rear of the building with ladder trucks parked in front.
Assisting the Hartsdale Fire Department were firefighters from Greenville, Fairview, Elmsford, Scarsdale, Ardsley, Irvington, White Plains and Yonkers. Six firefighters suffered minor injuries in the fire.
The residents of the building were evacuated unharmed but 62 families had to find temporary housing. They endured significant delays in the reconstruction, with work stopping in August 1994 when insurance money ran out and not resuming again until the fall of 1995.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Look back at massive 1993 Hartsdale apartment building fire
Reporting by Jonathan Bandler, Rockland/Westchester Journal News / Rockland/Westchester Journal News
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