'Not a Single Fire Alarm Went Off,' Residents of 100 John Street Complain

Flames rage from an apartment on the 23rd floor of 100 John Street. Photo: Basant Tyagi

UPDATED Nov. 14, 4:55 p.m. to include statement by building spokesperson.

A dramatic two-alarm fire broke out on upper floors of 100 John Street Saturday afternoon around 2:15, with no reported injuries but with a chorus of angry complaints from residents of the 29-story building who said they heard no alarms to warn of the danger.

Video footage by Basant Tyagi [1], edited by The Tribeca Trib

“I looked out on my balcony after my roommate called me to run out of the building,” said Barbara Owlasluk, 26, who lives on the 27th floor, four floors above where the fire reportedly began. “Not a single fire alarm went off. No smoke detector, nothing. And our entire floor was filled with smoke.”

“There was no fire alarm. We found out by chance,” said Brittney, a 16th-floor resident who declined to give her last name and, standing across the street from her charred building, was still shaking from the experience. “We were trying to go out and get food and all of a sudden I felt light-headed. We heard in the elevator all these walkie-talkies and we tried to go down the stairwell and the stairwell was flooding. Then we tried to go down the other one and people said the building is on fire.”

Nicole Riccardi, a 27th-floor tenant, said she was on her balcony and a man on a terrace across the street yelled at her to get out. She said she could see a balcony below her “flaming.” Taylor Pratt was just below the fire on the 21st floor and only learned of the fire when his roommate called from downstairs. “I didn’t see any smoke or smell anything either,” Pratt said.

At the scene, Battalion Chief Thomas Haughty said the fire is believed to have started on the 23rd floor. “But they think it also must have dropped down to the balcony of the 22nd floor and then it got into the windows of the 24th floor, but it was contained pretty much to the 23rd floor.” (The video above shows the fire spreading from the 23rd floor to the balcony below it.) The chief noted that the cause of the fire will be under investigation.

A Fire Department spokesman said there were no injuries. “Some people complained of [breathing] smoke so they were checked out,” Haughty said.

The FDNY spokesman said that 135 firefighters responded to the blaze, which he said took 53 minutes to bring under control.

A person answering the phone Monday morning in the property manager's office of 100 John Street hung up after being asked about the fire. In an email statement late Monday afternoon, a Moinian spokesperson wrote: “As with all our buildings, 100 John Street meets all New York City Fire Code requirements, and an alarm within the building was activated, notifying management and the fire department of the emergency.” The statement went on to say that the company is “cooperating with all relevant authorities to determine the cause of this incident.”