Tapes Reveal the Instant Bronx Blaze Turned Deadly

Jan. 25, 2005
in what seemed like an instant on Sunday morning, everything changed, Fire Department officials said yesterday. The firefighters sent desperate calls for help, which were captured on an experimental radio taping system.

In bursts of short radio transmissions, the firefighters calmly described the Bronx apartment they had called "Four Ida," or 4-I. Some smoke, a little heat, not much flame. The mouth of the fire, they knew, was one floor directly below them. Their mission was to find people who had not left Four Ida, while others put water on the fire.

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