Fireground audio, pictures & video from apartment fire in Spring Valley, New York. Second fire in area within hours.

See pictures of the fire from Brian Duddy

Article by Jane Lerner and Rob Ryser at LoHud.com:

Ten families were left homeless today after an early morning fire broke out at an apartment complex off Old Nyack Turnpike across the street from where fire damaged a separate house the night before.

Investigators don’t know if the two fires are connected.

Three firefighters were injured battling the blaze today at Sleepy Hollow Gardens apartment on Lunney Court.

The fire apparently started in Apartment 34 sometime after 6 a.m. It spread to the attic and then to adjacent units, Spring Valley fire Chief Ken Sohlman said.

Michael Choinski, 16, who lives in the apartment next door to where the fire broke out, said his mother was awakened by the sound of windows shattering from the fire. Choinski helped get his family out of the building and then ran to the other apartments in the building.

This is video from a house fire in the same area of Spring Valley around 9:30 PM on Thursday. Click here to see more clips from the fire.

“I was banging on the doors — telling everyone to get out,” he said.

All residents, including the women and her three young daughters who lived in the unit where the fire started, were out of the building by the time firefighters arrived.

It took firefighters about an hour to bring the fire under control. Firefighters from Spring Valley, Hillcrest, Monsey and Tallman were at the scene along with Spring Hill and Ramapo Valley ambulance corps.

Thursday night, Spring Valley firefighters were called to a single-family house at 123 Old Nyack Turnpike, directly across the street from the Sleepy Hollow Gardens apartments, shortly after 9:30.

It took them nearly two hours to put out the fire, which caused extensive damage to the house. No one was injured.

Investigators are trying to determine what caused both fires.

The Red Cross was being asked to help residents relocate.

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