On Sunday, November 23, 2025, the American Red Cross Metro New York North Chapter Disaster Action Team was called to the scene of a 5-alarm fire on Cottage Avenue in Mount Vernon.
Together with the city of Mount Vernon, the Red Cross opened a reception center at the Doles Recreation Center to provide a warm place for residents of the building to wait for further information and access resources like food. At the reception center, 121 residents (89 adults/32 children) registered for Red Cross assistance. The Red Cross also deployed an Emergency Response Vehicle (ERV) to the scene of the fire to support the first responders.
Later Sunday, the Red Cross opened a temporary shelter at the Holmes Elementary School to provide an overnight lodging location for residents and their pets. Sunday night, 62 residents from 21 households stayed at the shelter.
Today, representatives from Westchester County Department of Social Services will be present at the Holmes School to meet with residents to begin to discuss next steps. Residents displaced by the fire on Cottage Ave. can also come to the shelter to access breakfast, lunch, dinner and other resources.
The Red Cross would like to extend its thanks to the Mayor Shawyn Patterson-Howard and the City Council; to Superintendent Dr. Demario Strickland, the Mount Vernon School District and Board of Education Trustees; to OEM Director Michael Montes, the Office of Emergency Management and CERT team; and to the countless local volunteers, churches, community groups, civic organizations and restaurants who mobilized to support these residents.