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Three alarm fire: Park and Madison Avenues are shut down

A four-story building on Manhattan's East Side went up in flames and collapsed Monday after what witnesses said was a thunderous explosion that rocked the neighborhood.
Newscopter Seven is live over the scene of the East Side of Manhattan on East 62nd Street between Park Avenue and Madison.

This all began at about 8:30 this morning when what was reported as a building explosion led to a collapse just seconds later. Smoke could be seen rising in the distance, and pushed people out of nearby buildings it was so strong. The fire started as a second alarm fire and quickly grew to a third alarm fire.

Hours after the blast, authorities said their preliminary investigation suggests this is all due to a gas leak. The White House issued a statement saying that there is no indication at all, and no thought whatsoever, that the blast might be any sort of act of terror.

The building completely collapsed in a matter of seconds and was engulfed in flames.

More than 33 pieces of apparatus and more than 140 firefighters and emergency personnel are at the scene. They are working with shovels and anything they can get their hands on to see if there are any people to be rescued under the debris.

According to the most recent Cole's Cross-Reference Directory, it is home to a doctor's office, a dental office and a residence.

The NYC buildings department says it is a four story building, with a doctor's office on the first floor and a residence above.

It is owned, according to city records, by Ethel Bartha, of that address. A Dr. Nicholas Bartha is also listed as a resident of the building, and a medical practice, East 62nd & Madison Medical Associates, is also listed to the building.

As for street closures: There is always congestion in this area, and it's going to be gridlock for many hours.

# As of mid-morning, southside of Park Avenue and Madison Avenue were completely shut down and backups were seen all through the 60s and 70s on the East Side.
# Northbound sound of Park Avenue has remained open.
# Avoid areas near the Eastside of Central Park from 59th Street Bridge on up to Lexington Avenue.

Marcus Solis is live on the scene with the latest updates.

So far, three people are being treated for injuries at New York Presbyterian Hospital. One of them is a firefighter. Two more people were being treated at the scene.

The FDNY asked Con Ed to turn off the gas in the neighborhood just as a precaution.

Yaakov Kermaier, 36, a resident in a building next door, said he was outside when he heard "a deafening boom. I saw the whole building explode in front of me."

"Everybody started running, nobody knew what was coming next," he said. His nanny and newborn escaped from their next-door apartment unharmed.

Thad Milonas, 57, was operating a coffee cart across from the building when he said the ground shook and the building came down, said he helped two bleeding women from the scene.

TV host Larry King, who had been in his hotel room nearby, described the explosion to CNN as sounding like a bomb and feeling like an earthquake.

Larry King: "I was on the 15th floor and I heard an explosion which I had never heard before. I thought of "9/11" and I saw people running. The only sound I've heard like this is in movies. It sounded like the bombing in London during World War II."

The firefighter hurt on the scene was being rushed into an ambulance by paramedics. There is no word on his condition.

Nina Pineda has more on the story from the people living next door of the three story building.

No one was evacuated from the building of people living next door but the people that came of the building this morning have not been allowed back in the building.

Some people said they had come out earlier in the morning to walk their dogs and had smelled a faint smell of gas but did not report it. Now they are filled with regrets that they hadn't.

According to some residents who live next door they smelled gas as early as 6:30 a.m.

Nearby Resident: "There was just black smoke coming up and then out the front you could see some of the building's windows had blown out. It rocked our building, the building shook, it was like an earthquake."

Nearby Resident: "There was an explosion but the main noise came from the rubble hitting the ground. It was just terrifying, terrifying."

Terrifying explosion blamed on suicide attempt

Investigators are learning more about the doctor and dentist who worked inside of the building that blew up on Manhattan's East Side on Monday. It took rescuers an hour to reach them. Marcus Solis has more on today's terrifying events, and why authorities now are saying they believe this was no accident, but instead all the result of a suicide attempt.

A gas leak, a messy divorce and a building worth millions. They're the ingredients in an explosive situation. Investigators now believe today's terrifying events were due to a suicide attempt and not an accident.

By now the cause of the explosion is no longer a mystery. A natural gas leak leveled the structure, reducing it to rubble.

Con Edison actually responded to the building next door this morning, when a resident called to complain about the smell of gas. But the leak was actually at 34 East 62nd Street. At 8:40 the building blew, jarring residents and people in nearby buildings.

Male Witness: "There was a deafening boom and I started screaming at my wife and two kids across the street to run, run, run, because I didn't know if there was going to be another explosion."

The first two floors of the four story building were occupied by a doctor's office and the top two were converted into a duplex apartment owned by Dr. Nicholas Bartha and his wife.

Bartha was alone at the time and was found barely alive. The fire department say the blast is being investigated at a suicide attempt.

The doctor's suicide plans were apparently spelled out in an e-mail to his wife's lawyer. Sources say Bartha is in the midst of a messy divorce.

Nicholas Scoppetta, FNDY Commissioner: "In some communication with somebody outside the building which leads us to believe there was a potential for suicide."

Sources say the divorce was proceeding since 2002 and that a judgment was just handed down against the doctor on Friday. The building was set to be put on the market for sale at the end of the month as part of the settlement.

All morning, Newscopter Seven was live over the scene of the blast between Park and Madison. Smoke could be seen rising in the distance, and pushed people out of nearby buildings it was so strong.

The three alarm blaze that followed the blast brought 44 FDNY units and some 200 firefighters to the scene.They started working with shovels and anything they could get their hands on to see if there are any people to be rescued under the debris.

At least 11 injuries have been reported, six of them to firefighters and five to civilians. Three of the firefighters were taken to Lenox Hill Hospital, three to Weil-Cornell Medical Center at New York-Presbyterian. It's said the injuries to the firefighters are not serious.

Four of the five civilians hurt went to Weill-Cornell, one refused medical aid at the scene. Two of the civilians were seriously hurt and they went to Weill.

Some witnesses feared the blast was a bomb, or the work of terrorists. The White House issued a statement saying that there is no indication at all, and no thought whatsoever, that the blast might be any sort of act of terror.

TV host Larry King, who had been in his hotel room nearby, described the explosion to Eyewitness News as sounding like a bomb and feeling like an earthquake.

Larry King: "I was on the 15th floor and I heard an explosion which I had never heard before. I thought of "9/11" and I saw people running. The only sound I've heard like this is in movies. It sounded like the bombing in London during World War II."

There is always heavy street traffic in this area, and it's going to be a gridlock situation for many hours.
# As of mid-morning, southside of Park Avenue and Madison Avenue were completely shut down and backups were seen all through the 60s and 70s on the East Side.
# Northbound sound of Park Avenue has remained open.
# Avoid areas near the Eastside of Central Park from 59th Street Bridge on up to Lexington Avenue.

The Transit Authority tells us that several east side and crosstown bus routes have been rerouted as a result of the explosion. The TA says the:
# M1, M2, M3, M4, M30, M66, and the M72 bus lines are running on Third Ave between 56th and 65th Streets.
# Subway service on the 4,5 and 6 lines was not affected by the explosion but there may have been some residual delays from an accident in Greenwich Village earlier this morning.

As for other damage done by the explosion: The Links Club at 36 E 62nd St has damage to the rear of its building. City emergency officials are examining the structural stability of 30 and 32 E 62nd Street. Residents of 30 East 62nd Street and the Cumberland House high-rise has been evacuated as a precaution.

Some people said they had come out earlier in the morning to walk their dogs and had smelled a faint smell of gas but did not report it. Now they are filled with regret that they didn't. According to some residents who live next door they smelled gas as early as 6:30 a.m.

Nearby Resident: "There was just black smoke coming up and then out the front you could see some of the building's windows had blown out. It rocked our building, the building shook, it was like an earthquake."

Nearby Resident: "There was an explosion but the main noise came from the rubble hitting the ground. It was just terrifying, terrifying."

Eyewitness News is told the doctor suspected in all this apparently spoke with authorities on his cellphone to help them locate him, so they could pull him from the debris.