Third-floor Fire Damages New Rochelle House

An early morning fire forced five occupants of 55 Kress Ave. into the street Monday.

The New Rochelle Fire Department received a call around 5:40 a.m. about smoke on the third floor of the multi-family structure.

Chief Louis DiMeglio said when fire fighters arrived on the scene there was fire in the crawl space above the third floor.

"The fire got through one corner of the roof," he said, adding that the fire fighters made an additional hole in the roof to vent the smoke.

After about 45 minutes of battling the blaze, DiMeglio said a second alarm went out. 

"It's an old building and we were worried about it spreading," he said. All told, there were 27 fire fighters working at the scene.

The was extinguished in about one and a half hours.

There were no injuries, DiMeglio said.

DiMeglio said the fire is still under investigation but is not considered suspicious in nature.

Carolyn Sherwin, spokeswoman for the Red Cross, said they assisted the five people with emergency lodging and assistance for food clothing and referrals.

"They were able to get all their personal belongings out," she said.

EDITOR'S NOTE: This article has been modified from its original version to include comments from the Red Cross.