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Fire at W. 14th St. construction site causes evacuation of an N.Y.U. dorm

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By Hemmy So

One hundred twenty-five firefighters from 30 companies responded to a two-alarm fire that severely damaged a vacant brick building on W. 14th St. between Fifth and Sixth Aves. on Monday afternoon.

The fire began on the top floor of a seven-story building being renovated at 46 W. 14th St. Firefighters had the fire under control in about an hour, with residual smoke billowing from the rooftop around 2:30 p.m. Three residents from the rear apartment building and one firefighter were sent to St. Luke’s Hospital for minor injuries such as smoke inhalation.

Although it was declared under control at 2:10 p.m. some units remained in the scene overnight and left at 5 a.m. Tuesday. They returned at 8:45 a.m. and closed off the street again, witnesses said.

Assistant Chief Harold Meyers, the Fire Department’s Manhattan borough commander, cited Monday’s severe cold temperatures as a major concern in battling the fire. “We had the possibility of frostbite and hypothermia,” he said, explaining that firefighters’ body temperatures decrease as they are exposed to wetness and cold. “It makes operations on the roof more dangerous, everything is slippery,” he added.

The cause of the fire is under investigation. Because the commercial building was under construction, many combustible materials were inside, contributing to the blaze, a Fire Department official said. The building’s front facade no longer exists, exposing the barren interior and displaying the effects of the fire.

According to Nancy Chuang, a fashion design student at Parsons School of Design who was evacuated from the nearby New School University building located on W. 13th St., the fire burned quickly. “I was talking to my friend about the evacuation, and we looked up after five minutes and suddenly saw flames coming out the windows,” she said.

Smoke filled neighboring buildings like New School’s Arnhold Hall and wafted over to Union Sq. and the East Village. Andrew Berman, executive director of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, said he and his co-workers could smell the smoke from their offices on E. 11th St. between Second and Third Aves.

The N.Y.U. dormitory on 13th St. was evacuated when smoke poured into the building at about 1:45 a.m. Because it was exam week and many students have finished their exams and gone home, the building was not full at the time of the fire. A handful of residents from the dorm were accommodated overnight with cots in the Palladium residence hall a few blocks away. Some others chose to lodge with friends. The 13th St. residence hall was reopened at 10 a.m. Tuesday, but some rooms on the second floor sustained water damage in the effort fighting the fire.