Dogs avoid harm in fire on Manhattan's Upper East Side

Last night I got the scare of my life when, walking home, I noticed huge, black clouds of smoke billowing over my block. Picking up my pace to a run, I raced home, where my dogs had been left unattended for about three hours. A three-alarm fire had broken out on the top floor of the building two doors away from mine, and threatened to spread to the adjacent building.  

It took about 150 firefighters to prevent the fire from moving to the neighboring structure.

The entire block was sealed off and guarded by police as firefighters worked to extinguish the blaze, which displaced about 35 people. At either end of the block were fire trucks, police cars, and vehicles from the Red Cross and Salvation Army. Five of New York's Bravest and one civilian suffered minor injuries; no dogs were harmed.

NYPD officers on the scene didn't permit anyone back on the block until it was deemed safe - several hours later. The possibility that our building might also need to be evacuated, without me there to manage my dogs, made this an excruciating wait. Finally, people began being allowed back on the block. Residents of the buildings closest to the one that caught fire were the last to be allowed past the yellow tape. They walked through shards of broken glass that lined the sidewalk, from the many windows that wound up shattered.  

I'm grateful to report that, by the time I finally got back in to my apartment, all my dogs were fine - sneezing from the smoke that still hung in the air, but fine. I caught sight of a fellow dog lover who lives with his little Pomeranian in the building between the one that caught on fire and ours. He was standing with several fellow tenants, wrapped in a Red Cross blanket. Asked if he and his dog were OK, he nodded yes.  

As for my dogs, they showed admirable grace under pressure. Only one managed to have an accident during the long wait to get outside: my youngest, DD, who spared the wood floor by thoughtfully using my North Face jacket as a wee-wee pad. A swift pre-soak with odor extractor followed by a cold-water wash with Planet laundry detergent erased the evidence completely.  

Having the privilege of doing a mundane chore like laundry is an excellent reminder of how very lucky we are that our home was spared. 

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