A 77-year-old woman died and two people were injured after a two-alarm fire tore through their Bed-Stuy home on Monday night.
The fire began in a three-story brownstone on MacDonough street just before midnight on April 7, according to the FDNY.
All three floors of the home were engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived on the scene, FDNY Deputy Chief Chuck Downey said on social media. More than 100 firefighters were called to the scene, and “aggressively searched” the building for residents as they worked to bring the flames under control.
The woman, whose name has not yet been released, was found inside the home and pronounced dead on the scene. Two other people were injured but refused medical attention.
Firefighters brought the blaze under control shortly after 1 a.m., per the FDNY. The home was left severely damaged, city records show, as the flames had blown out windows and doors, damaged the stairs, walls, and ceiling, and burned through the roof. A full vacate order was issued by the Department of Buildings on Tuesday morning.
An adjacent building was damaged, too, DOB records show. The Red Cross responded to the scene on Monday night to offer assistance to several displaced residents, but all were able to find temporary housing with friends or family, a spokesperson said.
The FDNY’s fire marshal will investigate the cause of the blaze. Records showed no open DOB or HPD violations at the property.
Brooklyn has seen a spate of serious residential fires in 2025. In February, a one-alarm fire in a Bay Ridge home killed 37-year-old Navy veteran Gregory Fernandez. Weeks later, an 80-year-old woman was found dead after a fire in her Crown Heights apartment building, and 13 people were injured last month in a large fire at NYCHA’s Brownsville Houses.
Residential fires are more common in the winter months, as residents plug in space heaters or attempt to warm chilly apartments with open ovens.
