Broadway actor Vincent Jamal Hooper, currently starring as Simba in “The Lion King” was among the tenants evicted last weekend after 5-alarm fire in Washington Heights apartment building.
The Saturday evening fire at a six-story building on Fort Washington Avenue near 164th Street injured 220 firefighters and EMS personnel shortly after 8:46 p.m. Nine people, including three firefighters, were injured. All of their injuries were minor and not life-threatening, the FDNY said.
The fire appears to have started on the fourth floor and then spread to the fifth, sixth floors and the roof. It took about three hours to bring the fire under control, authorities said.
Hooper, who was in the cast of “Hamilton” before joining the musical based on the Disney classic, I learned about the fire while walking towards the building after the performance.
“I discovered a tragic situation as I approached my house after finishing work on Saturday night,” he wrote on GoFundMe. “This is an unprecedented moment for me and [a] a failure that requires me to start all over again.”
He said he would share some of the funds with his neighbors. He raised more than $22,000 after originally asking for less than half that amount.
“Hamilton” star Leslie Odom Jr. and the nonprofit Broadway Cares were among the first to donate.
American Red Cross of New York Spokeswoman Desiree Ramos-Reiner told the Daily News that 35 adults and seven children from 13 families were treated after the fire. She urged anyone affected by Saturday's fire to call the Red Cross for help at 877-RED-CROSS.
A GoFundMe has been set up for other tenants' paint. a terrible picture for the entire building.
“At least six families who lived on floors 4-6 were forced to leave their homes and lost everything, and now 21 apartments on each floor have been ordered to vacate due to flooding, fire and collapsing ceilings,” the platform said.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
With Theresa Brain
