A seven-alarm fire tore through several buildings in New York City's East Village on Thursday, leaving at least 19 people injured -- four of them in critical condition.
READ MORE: 19 injured, 4 critically, after explosion & fire in Manhattan's East Village
Soon after the explosion occurred, dramatic images began surfacing showing flames shooting out of the building's rooftop.
Photo of the massive building Fire and collapse in Manhattan's East Village. #BreakingNews via @nypmetropic.twitter.com/cxYT7Xnt7O
— Mike Demarest (@Mike_Demarest) March 26, 2015
Officials said that four buildings have been affected by the fire and two of them have partially collapsed. A third structure is in danger of collapsing as well.
100 firefighters struggling with flames in collapsed building in #EastVillage in #NewYorkpic.twitter.com/dV3CQGFMG6
— ROBERTO ZICHITTELLA (@ROBZIK) March 26, 2015
The incident is suspected to be a gas-related explosion that started at 121 2nd Avenue in East Village, though an investigation is still ongoing.
Now #FDNY tower ladder operating at 121&123 2nd Avenue in East Village. pic.twitter.com/6suW7DlVah
— FDNY (@FDNY) March 26, 2015
More than 200 New York City firefighters arrived at the scene in order to combat the flames.
“@tminsberg: Wow. Incredible photo of @FDNY at work putting out the fire in New York's East Village pic.twitter.com/frdXBHJY9j”
— Juan Antonio Tirado (@jatirado) March 26, 2015
Down in the streets, firefighters worked to draw water as fast as possible.
In East Village, firefighters draw water from a block away. pic.twitter.com/InD683Exhh
— Stephen Nessen (@s_nessen) March 26, 2015
Firefighters are expected to work long into the night.
This is what the area looked like before the explosion occurred:
Here are the East Village buildings, before today's explosion/fire. via @googlemapspic.twitter.com/VRgrShz86Y
— Chris Ariens (@ChrisAriens) March 26, 2015
And here's what it looked like after:
Aftermath of the explosion in the East Village. Photo via @blogbaixomanhattan Follow https://t.co/pUJ8WWMBmgpic.twitter.com/lZx0SXpFVv
— Megan Specia (@meganspecia) March 26, 2015
Thoughts & prayers with those involved and responding to East Village fire. #FDNY#EastVillage Photo @JBalankapic.twitter.com/WkDjXdQ9NM
— New York City Alerts (@NYCityAlerts) March 26, 2015
A video posted by RT America (@rt_america) on Mar 27, 2015 at 7:55am PDT
Responding firefighters quickly clogged the East Village streets, moving people out of a possible building collapse zone.
RT @AlwaysActions: Building collapses in the East Village http://t.co/T7ZFZdmskZ (Credit: Lex Ruscil) pic.twitter.com/Q1UGLTQ50h@NBCNewYork
— res7cue (@res7cuefox5) March 26, 2015
Visibility in the area was also extremely low, and there was so much smoke that it drifted at least 40 blocks north.
Not sure what's going on but very low visibility out here. Thick smoke, awful smell. pic.twitter.com/hgC0kEvej0
— Tracee Carrasco (@CarrascoTV) March 26, 2015
Smoke clouds cover #Manhattanhttp://t.co/BRHMnHFRD4 via @NYBizJournal@OBJUpdatepic.twitter.com/cRxDSLHiMC
— Ameen Hafez (@Ameen4OBJ) March 26, 2015
One rescue attempt was even caught on video.
“@rachelzarrell: Amazing rescue video from the East Village collapse via @nayramzpic.twitter.com/CVYZzQPk4J” @ABC@ABC7@cnnbrk
— Josh Flitter (@Josh_Flitter) March 26, 2015
READ MORE: Firefighters contain huge blaze in NY on 66th & 1st, second fire in same night (VIDEO)