One resident left dead in Trump Tower blaze

One man has died and six firefighters have been left injured after a fire broke out at Trump Tower in New York on Saturday, according to the New York City Fire Department.

US President, Donald Trump, has a home and office in the building which is located on Fifth Avenue. However, Trump, Melania and their son Barron were in Washington DC at the time of the blaze. Fire commissioner, Daniel Nigro, added that no other members of the Trump family were at the tower during the incident.

The fire erupted on the 50th floor of the high-rise, which contains apartments and office space, and it was ruled under control around 9pm, two hours after it was originally reported.

The victim of the fire has been identified as 67-year-old Todd Brassner, who lived on the 50th floor of the building. He was taken to the hospital in critical condition but later died, according to spokesperson for the New York Fire Department, Angelica Conroy.

Brassner was purportedly unconscious and unresponsive when firefighters pulled him from the scene. The medical examiner's office will be determining the cause of death.

Six firefighters suffered injuries which are not deemed life threatening, Conroy added.

 

Before the news of the fatality, 45th President of the United States, Donald Trump, congratulated the New York Fire Department, and tweeted that the fire was out and "very confined" within the "well built building".

His son, Eric Trump, also congratulated firefighters writing "Thank you to the amazing men and women of the NYFD who extinguished a fire in a residential apartment at @TrumpTower. The @FDNY and @NYPD are truly some of the most incredible people anywhere!"

Shortly afterwards, the Commissioner of the New York City Fire Department, Daniel Nigro, announced that the incident was "still not considered to be under control" because of a "considerable amount of smoke" in the building.

"We found fire on the 50th floor of the building. The apartment was entirely on fire. Members pushed in heroically, they were knocking down the fire and found one occupant of the apartment who is in critical condition," Nigro was quoted as saying. "This was a very difficult fire. As you can imagine, the apartment is quite large, we are 50 stories up. We had many floors to search, and stairways."

According to Nigro, the upper-level residential floors are not equipped with fire sprinkles. This is because residents of older high-rises such as Trump Tower are not required to install sprinklers unless the building undergoes major renovation, according to The Associated Press.

The blaze at Trump Tower comes three months after a minor fire broke out in a cooling tower on the roof of the building. Two people were injured in the incident which law enforcement officials have since said may have been caused by electrical heaters inside the cooling tower.

Roads surrounding the building, which is located in Midtown Manhattan, were closed off during the fire. Around 200 fire personnel responded to the incident.