Blast at a Brooklyn home injures 6, leaves 54 out in cold; 130 Bravest fight fire
Six tenants were injured and 54 people were left homeless when an explosion rocked a Brooklyn home and sparked a massive blaze that spread to neighboring buildings early Wednesday, FDNY officials said.
The blast blew out windows in the brick rowhouse on Vermont St. near Livonia Ave. in New Lots just after midnight, FDNY Chief Patrick Sheridan said. Video obtained by PIX11 News shows part of the facade of the building was blown into the street by a massive fireball.
“We had heavy fire on arrival in the first and second floor,” Sheridan said. “It was extending to the adjoining buildings and was also wrapping around. We had a building on Jamaica Ave. and [flames were] running up the rear of that building.”
Firefighters arrived within three minutes, an FDNY spokesman said. More than 130 firefighters were needed to put out the fire, which may have been triggered by a gas explosion in the basement, FDNY officials said.
Six occupants suffered minor injuries. Most were treated at the scene, and two were taken to area hospitals for additional care.
Two tenants were on the second floor when “their building was rocked by an explosion in the basement,” but they were able to escape unscathed, an FDNY spokesman said.
“There was an explosion out the front,” Sheridan explained as he spoke to reporters on Vermont St. “The first floor collapsed into the cellar, so we were unable to do searches.”
Con Edison was called in to “mitigate a possible gas emergency on scene,” a department spokesman said. The Red Cross was also called in to provide housing for the tenants who lost their apartments in the fire.