Nine people, including a 70-year-old man and six firefighters, were hospitalized after a massive fire tried to consume an entire Brooklyn block, FDNY officials said Tuesday.
At least 31 people were left homeless after a row of five buildings on Dean St. near Mother Gaston Blvd. in Ocean Hill caught fire after the blaze erupted at about 10:40 p.m. Monday.
The fire erupted in one brick-faced building and spread to four others on both sides as flames ran through the cockloft — the empty voids between the ceiling and the roof, FDNY Chief Kevin Woods said.
“We encountered heavy fire on all three floors of this building with rapid extension to four adjoining structures,” Chief Woods said at the scene. “The original fire building did suffer extensive collapse of the roof area into the top floor.”
Video of the fire shows flames lighting up the night sky as they shoot from the roof of the building. The rooftop of one adjoining building appears to have suffered extensive damage as firefighters doused water on the fire from all sides.
“Our units did a tremendous job preventing further extension beyond the original fire building and the exposures,” said #FDNY Assistant Chief Kevin Woods at the scene of Monday night’s 4-alarm fire in Brooklyn. pic.twitter.com/hFaESoHfp3
— FDNY (@FDNY) August 27, 2024
As the fire progressed, FDNY officials called on more and more firefighters for assistance. The fire quickly reached four alarms, a designation that brought 50 FDNY units from all over the borough and 180 firefighters to combat the blaze.
The fire was ultimately brought under control by 1:30 a.m. Firefighters spent the night dousing the spaces in the old building so the flames wouldn’t reignite.
Firefighters also used drones to fly around the building to “identify hot spots” that need to be doused, Chief Woods said.
Six firefighters and three residents were taken to an area hospital with smoke inhalation and other minor injuries, officials said. Everyone is expected to recover.
FDNY Fire Marshals were on the scene Tuesday trying to determine what sparked the fire.