Seven people were injured in a devastating four-alarm blaze at a Greenpoint apartment building early on Friday morning.
The blaze broke out at the two-story building at 137 Kingsland Ave. just before 4 a.m., according to the FDNY, and flames rapidly spread through the building and into neighboring homes. Residents fled onto the street, some waking up their neighbors as they went.
“I am only alive because my neighbor began banging on my door screaming ‘fire,'” one witness told Brooklyn Paper.
More than 160 firefighters and EMS personnel responded to the scene, where structural concerns inside the building forced firefighters to take a defensive position. After more than three hours, the blaze was finally brought under control just after 7 a.m., per the FDNY.
Seven people, including two firefighters, were injured. Two civilians refused medical attention on the scene, while three others were transported to local hospitals by ambulance. The two firefighters were brought to Wyckoff Heights Medical Center. The exact nature of the injuries was not immediately clear.
The cause of the fire is not yet known, and will be determined by the fire marshal’s office, pending an investigation. According to city records, the Department of Buildings will investigate the structural damage of the home and neighboring buildings at 135 and 139 Kingsland Ave., as both were affected by the fire.
Complaints filed with the DOB in 2022 state that the second floor of 137 Kingsland Ave. had been illegally converted into two apartments, though records show that inspectors were not able to gain access to the home during an attempted visit. Inspectors were also denied entry after complaints about the conversion and about illegal waste and water lines and a gas stove in the basement, per DOB documentation.
