One dead, 15 injured in Bronx apartment building explosion

One person died and 15 others were injured after an explosion and fire tore through a 17-story apartment building on East 209th Street in the Norwood section of the Bronx, sending firefighters into a scene residents described as sounding like a bomb. The blast blew doors off their hinges and quickly escalated into a major fire in a dense residential block near Decatur Avenue and Parkside Place.

Firefighters received the call just before 12:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2026, after the explosion was reported at the building, which multiple outlets identified as 374 East 209th Street. The FDNY said the fire was treated as a suspected gas explosion, and the blaze grew to five alarms as crews worked through the upper floors and the surrounding area.

Witnesses told Christina Fan of CBS News New York that they smelled gas before the explosion. That detail sharpened concern around a building fire that moved fast enough to overwhelm the block and send emergency crews scrambling through the Norwood neighborhood. The FDNY said the cause remained under investigation.

The injury toll rose as the response continued. Early counts put the number hurt at 14, and later updates raised it to 15, including firefighters among those injured. FDNY Commissioner Lillian Bonsignore gave a public update on the blast, identifying the incident as a Bronx gas explosion at Box 4399. City officials, including Deputy Mayor for Housing and Planning Leyla Bozorg, also appeared at the scene as the emergency response unfolded.

The fire added another chapter to New York City’s long record of dangerous gas-related building failures. The city’s 2015 East Village gas explosion remains a stark reference point for the risks tied to aging apartment buildings, where one ignition can turn a routine utility failure into a mass-casualty event. In the Bronx, the immediate facts were plain: a high-rise residential building, a suspected gas blast, a fast-moving fire and a toll that left one person dead and 15 injured.