Dec. 3 (UPI) — One person is dead, and six firefighters were injured, in a three-alarm fire that erupted Monday night in an Upper East Side Manhattan apartment building, officials said.

Thomas Currao, deputy chief of the New York City Fire Department, told reporters during a press conference that they were notified of the fire on East 82nd Street at about 7:15 p.m. EST.

He said “a heavy, heavy body of fire” had been burning on the fifth and sixth floors before it spread down to the fourth. Between eight and 10 apartments were affected by the blaze.

Multiple hose lines were employed to combat the fire as firefighters tore walls apart and ventilated the roof to get at the flames, he said.

Paul Miano, assistant chief of EMS operations, announced the casualty toll, stating the injuries sustained by the firefighters were “minor.”

The identity of the deceased was not released. Currao state the victim had been found in a fifth-floor hallway outside of an apartment.

“The art and skill of a firefighter is inherently dangerous,” he said. “On a cold night, we have a lot of water going on, we have ventilation, windows breaking, we have a lot fire and smoke, so thank God all the [injuries] seem to be moderate at this time.”

Officials said a secondary search of the building was ongoing, and a MTA bus was being brought to the scene to shelter residents who could not return to their homes until they could be relocated.

The cause of the fire was under investigation by fire marshals.