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Tom Brokaw, wife survive apartment building fire

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U.S. newsman Tom Brokaw and his wife Meredith Lynn Auld were “very, very fortunate” to escape a New Year’s Day blaze in their New York apartment building.

More than 100 firefighters were dispatched to the 12:30 a.m. fire on the 14th floor of the landmark building on E. 79th Street — two floors above Brokaw’s apartment. Six people, including five firefighters, received non-life-threatening injuries

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The former NBC Nightly News anchor assured the New York Post the couple was fine and well following the incident, and heaped praise on the city’s emergency services for tackling the fire.

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“We’re safe, and we were very, very impressed with the work of the NY Fire Department,” he said. “It was close to the south floor of our building and it was fully involved by the time they got here.”

The 79-year-old added: “We were awakened by their presence, frankly. Our dogs began to bark and we realized, we looked down in our elevator area and the fire department was coming up.”

Although the owners of the unit where the blaze erupted were away during the scare, Brokaw called them a “wonderful family,” adding: “It could’ve been a lot worse. It was great property loss for the family.”

However, Brokaw’s property was undamaged, as he explained: “We got a little smoke. Really, it’s a cautionary tale about living in the danger of fire. But thank God for the New York Fire Department.”

A spokesperson for 66 E. 79th St. Corporation, the building’s managers, told the publication “there’s a significant amount of damage” as a result of the fire.

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