Madonna recalls accidentally starting a fire with a space heater while living ‘illegally’ in a NYC building

Madonna candidly recalled accidentally starting a fire with a space heater while “illegally” living in a New York City building ahead of her career in the late ’70s.

“I was living illegally in a building in the Garment District,” the “Material Girl” songstress told Bilt founder and CEO Ankur Jain in an interview released on Wednesday.

“There was no heat in the dead of winter. Everybody knows how cold New York winters are. I was sleeping on the floor with a sleeping bag, and I surrounded myself with some space heaters.”

“I started an electrical fire, but I was sleeping, so I woke up, and I was surrounded by flames,” Madonna, 67, explained.

The Grammy winner, who was around the age of 19 at the time, recalled squatting in different buildings after breaking up with her boyfriend because he wouldn’t let her be a singer in his band.

“I didn’t have anywhere to live, so I escaped to this building called The Music Building on Eighth Avenue,” she added, referring to the Midtown Manhattan building founded in 1979.

“The Music Building was full of people grinding to have a music career. There were probably two to three bands per room, and you timeshared the room with people,” Madonna continued, explaining that she slept with a pillow by a bass drum.

She recalled living in the building for about a year before she got a record deal at the Danceteria club on the Lower East Side when she handed DJ Mark Kamins a demo tape.

In collaboration with the “Vogue” singer, Bilt, a membership company for where you live and a hospitality platform, is covering one month of rent for musicians living in The Music Building and offering members nationwide a chance to win up to $2,500 in rent.

Additionally, the company released an exclusive limited-edition vinyl of Madonna’s forthcoming album “Confessions On A Dance Floor: Part II.”

The album is set for release on July 3, and Bilt will also be hosting member-exclusive album release parties in the Big Apple, Los Angeles and Chicago.

Madonna’s highly anticipated album is a follow-up to her iconic 2005 disco album and will feature tracks about her early career, including the song “Danceteria.”

The “Popular” singer signed her first record deal with Sire Records in 1982, the same year she released her first single, “Everybody.”

In 1984, Madonna made her way to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 music chart with her first No. 1 single, “Like a Virgin.”

She earned her first Grammy in 1992 for Best Music Video for her “Blond Ambition World Tour Live” concert film.