PETS LEFT TO DIE BY CITY?
Displaced Residents Return to Belmont Fire in Search of 7 Cats,
City Sees, Hears Nothing
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Fire victim Luciano Silva (Center) is joined by 11 other residents who are pleading for the city to step in and save their pets trapped in the fire building.—Photo by David Greene
By David Greene
Bronx Voice
May 2, 2026
BRONX, NY - A dozen residents from a Belmont building returned 10 days after a 5-alarm fire gutted their building and killed two women. Residents are searching for their beloved pets left inside the building and are now believed trapped behind a wooden barricade erected around the five-story building.
Many of the residents that the Bronx Voice has spoken to claim they have called the FDNY and 311 as well as local elected officials and NYC Animal Care and Control and have gotten little if any assistance.
According to the FDNY, the blaze engulfed the building at 660 East 187 Street at 1:50 p.m. on Tuesday, April 21. Some residents were able to escape with their pets while others escaped with their lives and the clothes on their backs.
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A missing cat flyer taped to a traffic light along East 187 Street in the shadow of the fire building at 660 East 187 Street in Belmont.—Photo by David Greene
Mary Barron, a schoolteacher and pet advocate who lives a short distance from the fire building contacted an FDNY supervisor on Sunday, April 26, when members of Ladder 42 entered the property.
Barron recalled, “They weren’t going in but then they saw Ritchie (a cat) out there (on the fire escape) and they went up… And Ritchie ran back in; he’s still in there and they don’t care.”
She added, “They’ve been in there 10 days, so we have these house cats that are terrified.”
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A boarded up rear entrance to the fire building is plastered with several flyers of cats missing and believed to still be in the building that has been boarded up.—Photo by David Greene
According to several residents, firefighters were able to grab one cat that was quickly reunited with its owner, but other residents weren’t as lucky.
As a pet rescuer for 40 years in the state of New Jersey, Barron says, “It’s totally different, this would never happen in a million years. You come out of there and there will not be one animal or mouse, they’re going to get it. In New York City? They’re alive. He was out there and now he’s inside and they’re not getting him.”
Displaced resident Susana Torres was asked how her children are taking what’s happened, she replied, “They’re crying for the cats because we have nothing, there has literally been no news about the cats after the fire, like no one is telling us anything about the cats. At this point even her classmates and teachers have been asking with regards to our pets left behind in the fire building because they knew that my brother was able to get out safely, but the cats weren’t able to get out safely.”
Torres says the entire family is feeling “anxious” about their two cats still missing after the fire as well as answers to questions like how the deadly fire started. She added, “We understand it’s unsafe. We know there were drones they were using that day, so why can’t they use drones to check if trapped pets are still alive.”
According to residents at least 7 cats remain unaccounted for after the Belmont fire. Residents of the building created flyers of the missing cats posted around the fire building.
The Bronx Voice has reached out to 311, the FDNY, the mayor’s office and other city agencies but have been unable to get any definitive answers on protocol to recover animals from a vacated fire-damaged building.
A staffer answering the phone at City Hall was told that cats were trapped in a building that had a fire, when the operator responded, “Ah, so what is the reason for your call?” When told again that these cats are in danger, the operator said, “Are you calling just to let me know this?” When told that a reporter was calling who was trying to avoid a negative story, the operator then offered, “As a member of the media, please email the press office with your comments.”
Barron said of the cat’s survival, “Ten days is possible, but how long can cats survive trapped in a fire-damaged building.”
The Bronx Voice will continue to press the various city agencies to step in and rescue cats trapped after the Belmont fire.
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