Four people were hurt, including three firefighters and one civilian in an intense three-alarm fire that sparked in an Upper East Side apartment building Monday afternoon and quickly spread, officials confirmed to Upper East Site.

The fire started just before 3:00 pm inside the five-story building located at 404 East 63rd Street, near First Avenue, and spread to a second building from an open shaft and into the cockloft, according to FDNY officials.

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Photos from the scene show heavy fire coming from the front door of the ground floor business, a uniform shop, as firefighters doused the blaze with water from their hoses.
Huge flames shot from the roof of the low-rise apartment building. A total of 33 FDNY units and 138 firefighters and EMS personnel were on the scene, officials said.
NYC Emergency Management warned neighbors to close their windows to avoid the thick, black smoke billowing from the fire, and to expect traffic delays in area.


The injuries to three firefighters and a civilian were reported to be minor, officials said, while the building itself has been deemed uninhabitable. It’s not clear how badly the second building was damaged.
The fire was declared under control just before 5:15 pm — its cause is under investigation.
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