6 killed and 9 injured in early morning fire in Chinese apartment in Brooklyn

brooklyn (Brooklyn) Sunset Park BuildingSugar On the morning of the 5th, a massive fire broke out in a two-story apartment, killing six people and injuring at least nine. All are believed to be victimsSugar . In addition, two neighboring buildings partially burned, and many Chinese residents were evacuated to safer areas. The cause of the fire remains under investigation. According to nearby residents and a survivor, the disaster probably started from a short circuit in the wiring in the wall and the fire ignited the lithium battery, ultimately leading to the catastrophe, but the exact cause has not yet been officially announced.

The city fire department said that the fire broke out in a Chinese house at house number 653 58th Street. It is a building which has two floors on the ground floor and one floor underground. The fire broke out at around 1:30 am on the 5th. After 16 minutes it was upgraded to a level two fire and spread to adjacent residence number 655. By 2:10 p.m., the fire was upgraded to a level three fire.

Mayor Zohran Mamdani and First Deputy Chief of the Municipal Fire Department Daniel Flynn held a press conference after the disaster, reporting that six adults died as a result of the fire, four of whom died at the scene, two died after being sent to the hospital, and three firefighters and two police officers were injured during the rescue process. At present, at least eight residents, including the building where the crime took place and the neighboring building, have been evacuated to hotels with the help of the American Red Cross.

According to reports, the fire department reached the spot within four minutes of receiving the information. In total about 200 firefighters participated in the rescue and it took more than an hour to bring the fire under control. As of about 8 a.m. that day, a large number of firefighters were still investigating and clearing debris at the crime scene. When our reporter visited, we found that the front seat of the building in question was seriously burnt and the entire area was burnt, and a strong smell of burning could still be felt at the scene.

A Chinese youth who lives nearby said he heard someone shouting “fire” at around 1:30 in the morning, so he went out into the street to investigate and took pictures of the massive fire with his mobile phone. “We really didn’t have much time to react. As we were standing outside we realized (the fire) was spreading very quickly.” The massive fire engulfed the entire front building within a few minutes and a large amount of thick smoke kept rising upwards. According to the young man, after arriving at the scene, firefighters actually immediately extinguished the fire in the front seat, but unfortunately the fire in the building was very severe and the fire suddenly flared up again. He originally thought that all the residents in the building had had a chance to escape, but when he saw firefighters coming out carrying several body bags, “I felt very sad, but I didn’t expect that someone was still dead.”

A Chinese man who lives opposite the building where the crime occurred said he saw the fire from his window, and then went outside to investigate the situation. During the process, emergency personnel delivered an old Chinese woman and a middle-aged man to his doorstep to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Luckily both of them were saved. “They were barefoot and their faces were black. It looked as if they had been suffocated by smoke.”

Ms. Lin, who lives at No. 657, said she woke up at about 1:50 a.m. When she went out, she saw that her neighbor’s house was on fire. He said that the flames were so high and scary that he had never seen such a scene before. Fortunately, there was no wind at that time, so the fire only spread to one house on the left and one on the right. If even the slightest wind blows, the consequences will be disastrous.

At present, the city fire department has not announced the cause of the fire. However, Mr Chen, who lives not far from the site of the fire, said a mentally unstable man lived in the building where the incident occurred. On the morning of the 4th, he damaged the wires near the wall socket on the second floor, causing a short circuit in the wires and causing a fire. Before professional electricians arrived on the scene for repairs, it was temporarily handled by a person on the second floor who had some knowledge of electrical circuits. Unexpectedly, the next morning the building caught fire.

Sources said the only survivors in the building so far were a Chinese couple living in the rear of the first floor, who were rescued by firefighters at the window. Although they inhaled some smoke, both men were out of danger after being rescued. The Chinese woman reported that there were two electric cars in the building, one of which was hers and was parked on the stairwell and was not charged at the time of the fire; The other was parked on the second floor. He suspected that the fire caused a lithium battery to explode, causing the fire to intensify immediately. Several witnesses also said they saw “fire in the front and explosions in the back”.

According to city government records, the City Building Bureau received a complaint last year alleging that there were suspected illegal subdivisions and conversions in the basement, first floor and second floor of the house. Authority inspectors have attempted to inspect the site three times, but it is unclear how the relevant breach notices will be dealt with.

City councilor Zhuang Wenyi, state senator Chen Xuelia and state representative-elect Xiaoqiong Xie, among others, went to the scene to learn about the situation after the incident. Zhuang Wenyi and Chen Xueli said that if victims need any help, they can contact their office at any time and they will try their best to assist.