Christmas Morning Fire in Harlem Leaves One Person Dead
The cause of a fire that erupted shortly before 1 am. on Dec. 25 at the Drew Hamilton Houses on Frederick Douglas Blvd. is under investigation. The deceased, a 74-year-old male was said to be a longtime resident.
| 27 Dec 2024 | 11:28
A blaze at 2660 Frederick Douglas Blvd. in Harlem in the early morning hours of Dec. 25 left one person dead. Over 20 fire units reponded to the fire. The cause is under investigation by city fire marshals. (
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Firefighters discovered an unconscious 74-year-old male when they responded to an apartment fire in Harlem shortly before 1 a.m. on Christmas morning. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
The FDNY said that 76 firefighters and EMS personnel responded to the blaze at 2660 Frederick Douglas Blvd. between 141st St. and 142nd St. The identity of the victim was not released by police, pending notification of family, but according to one published report, he had lived in the building for more than two decades.
The cause of the blaze is under investigation by fire marshals. The building known as the Drew Hamilton Houses, is part of a five tower complex that is part of the NYCHA system. It has been plagued by heat related problems in the past. was unable to reach NYCHA officials referred The Spirit to the FDNY. The DOB had not responded to a request by presstime to see if there were any pending violations.
The victim was discovered on the ninth floor of the 21-story tower. There were no other injuries reported at the scene of the fire.
Aside from the periodic heat complaints, the building made headline news back in 2003 when resident Andrew Yates in a fifth floor apartment was discovered to have been keeping a 425 lb Siberian-Bengal tiger in his apartment as well as an alligator. He had reportedly purchased the tiger cub from an underground breeder two years earlier. The tiger was removed to a pet sanctuary in Ohio by police.