An enormous fireplace ripped by means of Queens Saturday afternoon, injuring 14 individuals — together with 11 firefighters — and damaging a number of buildings, leaving dozens of residents displaced, officers mentioned.
The blaze started simply after 4 p.m., at a two-story residence at 88-21 Francis Lewis Boulevard in Queens Village, earlier than shortly hovering to 5 alarms and spreading to seven buildings, in response to FDNY officers.
Over 200 firefighters, EMTs and paramedics responded to the hearth, which was introduced below management in about two hours, officers mentioned.
“This was a really fierce fireplace, and it unfold to seven buildings and into the rear and storage space,” FDNY First Deputy Commissioner Joseph Pfeifer mentioned.
The 14 wounded included 11 firefighters and three civilians, all of whom sustained minor accidents, FDNY EMS Deputy Assistant Chief Grace Cacciola mentioned.
The bulk suffered heat-related accidents and have been taken to native space hospitals to be handled.
Dozens of individuals have been estimated to have been displaced, mentioned Frederic Klein, a spokesman with the Crimson Cross, which was on the scene aiding victims.
In an alley behind Francis Lewis Boulevard the place residents parked their vehicles, at the very least three autos had been charred to a crisp.
Homes on 207th Avenue, additionally behind Francis Lewis Boulevard, sustained harm as effectively from the roaring blaze.
Tasmim Abib, 17, who lives on Francis Lewis Boulevard, mentioned the hearth began on his neighbor’s deck, earlier than spreading to his household’s deck and into their house.
“It was a lot fireplace that it obtained into our home,” he mentioned, explaining how the blaze entered their front room earlier than spreading and filling their house with thick black smoke.
Abib mentioned he rushed out of his house with two of 5 cats and his mother and father, who refused to let him return to their house to rescue the beloved pets left behind.
“I used to be crying, ‘Let me go inside and save my cats.’ They mentioned, ‘No, don’t return inside,’” he recalled.
“There may be nothing left there. Every little thing is gone within the fireplace.”
Abib mentioned his mom had heard three explosions earlier than heading outdoors to see the spreading flames.
Propane tanks had exploded behind the preliminary website of the hearth, accelerating the blaze, FDNY officers mentioned.
The reason for the hearth remains to be below investigation, FDNY officers mentioned
Further reporting by Patrick Reilly
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