Deadly fire below US President's Trump Tower residence

April 10, 2018 On Saturday, the, in , New York City, caught fire shortly before 18:00 (2200 UTC) on the 50th floor, claiming the life of a 67-year-old resident, Todd Brassner, who lived in apartment 50C. All other residents were evacuated without incident. During the fire, six firefighters received non-life-threatening burns and other minor injuries. Neither US President nor the  were in the building at the time of the fire.

The high-end address is the personal residence of President Donald Trump, whose family occupies the top three stories of the 58-story building. The maintains a constant security presence inside the building with the  guarding a hard perimeter, intended to stop vehicular attacks, and a soft perimeter, intended for on-foot attacks.

The required 200 firemen, extra police, and paramedics. At 20:00 EST (0000 UTC Sunday), the (FDNY) declared the fire was under control. Trump tweeted, "Firemen (and women) did a great job. THANK YOU!" This is the second fire at Trump Tower since the election; previously on January 8, a fire was caused by an electrical malfunction in a cooling tower on the roof. Three FDNY firefighters received minor injuries, and all residents and office workers evacuated without incident on that occasion.

Trump Tower provides a number of unique problems never before encountered by the Secret Service. Never has a US President's personal residence been inside a skyscraper or in a densely populated area like Midtown. The security measures have disrupted vehicular and pedestrian traffic requiring time consuming detours and delaying emergency response.

The New York Fire Code did not mandate sprinkler systems at the time Trump Tower was built in 1983, which might have reduced the size and severity of the fire had they been present. The 50th-floor apartment was, according to FDNY Fire Commissioner, "[T]he apartment was virtually, entirely on fire." The Secret Service monitors all the fire alarms in the building but it took time to find the source of the thick black smoke emanating from the fire. Secret Service Agents escorted the firefighters throughout the building, including the Trump residence.

Brassner, the sole casualty, was unconscious when firefighters pulled him out of apartment 50C. He was transported to. Originally listed as critical, he was pronounced dead sometime during the night. Brassner, guitar collector, was acquainted with artist and was acknowledged in Warhol's 1989 autobiography, . The cause of the fire is unknown, with investigations into Brassner's death and the emergency response ongoing. Currently, the Secret Service leads the investigation.

Books

 * and Pat Hackett (1989). . New York: Warner Books. ISBN 0-446-51426-8
 * and Pat Hackett (1989). . New York: Warner Books. ISBN 0-446-51426-8