Help is here: An injured fireman is taken away on a stretcher.
(J.C. Rice)
Firefighters use a ladder truck to fight the massive blaze on Van Nest Ave. (Tomas E. Gaston)
More than 20 firefighters and two civilians were injured when a four-alarm blaze ripped through a stretch of Bronx homes today.
The ferocious blaze started at 1:15 pm at a three-story building on Van Nest Avenue in Morris Park and spread to three neighboring buildings, leaving at least 11 people homeless.
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It took 200 firemen two hours to get the blaze under control.
“It’s a real disaster now — four structures are damaged very severely,” said assistant fire chief Ronald Spadafora.
He said that two firefighters were quickly rescued after and sent to Jacobi Medical Center with minor injuries after a ceiling collapsed at 726 Van Nest Ave.
“When you hear firefighters (calling) may day, it gets the blood rising,” Spadafora said.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation, but witnesses said it started on the ground floor, which is home to a church called Full-Life Christian Assembly International.
Pastor Udechi Chukwu, whose family lives above the church, said he was away when the blaze started.
“The building is gone and I don’t have a place to host church tomorrow,” he said. “I trust God has a plan.”
kbriquelet@nypost.com