On the morning of the 5th, a fatal fire broke out in a Chinese two-story apartment in Sunset Park, Brooklyn (Brooklyn), resulting in six deaths and several injuries. The victims are believed to be of Chinese origin. In addition, two neighboring buildings were also partially burnt. Many Chinese residents have been evacuated to safe areas. The cause of the fire is still under investigation, but the source of the fire is rumored to be related to a lithium battery and old wiring in the house. Details are yet to be announced by the city fire department.
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 around 1:30 a.m. and was upgraded to a level two fire at 1:46 a.m., spreading to nearby residence number 655. By 2:10 p.m., the fire was downgraded to a level three fire.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Daniel Flynn, first deputy chief of the municipal fire department, held a press conference after the fire, reporting that six adults died in the fire, four of whom died at the scene, and two who died after being sent to the hospital. Three other firefighters and two police officers were injured in the process. At present, at least eight people have been evacuated to a safe area with the help of the American Red Cross, including the building where the crime took place and the adjacent building.
Firefighters reached the spot within four minutes to extinguish the fire. About 200 firefighters came to the scene to provide first aid. It took more than an hour to control the fire. By around 8 a.m., a large number of firefighters were at the scene to investigate and clean up the debris. They visited neighboring buildings and even residents in front of the apartment building where the crime took place to interrogate and investigate. The front of the building that caught fire was severely charred and the entire area was charred, and a strong smell of burning could still be felt at the scene.
According to a Chinese youth living nearby, at around 1.30 in the night he heard someone shouting ‘fire’. He went out to investigate and took pictures of the massive fire with his mobile phone. “There wasn’t really much time to react. We stood outside and saw (the fire) growing very quickly.” The massive fire engulfed the entire front building within a few minutes and a large amount of thick smoke kept rising upwards.
He said that in fact the firefighters extinguished the fire on the front seat very quickly after reaching the spot, but the fire inside the building was very severe and it suddenly flared up again. He originally thought that everyone in the building would have a chance to escape, but he did not expect to see firefighters carrying many body bags during this period. “I felt very sad, but I didn’t expect that someone would still die.”
A Chinese man who lives opposite the building where the crime took place said he saw the massive fire ahead from his window, and then went outside to investigate the situation. During the process, emergency personnel took an old Chinese woman and a middle-aged man to their door and performed CPR. Luckily, they survived. “They were barefoot and their faces were black. It looked as if they had been suffocated by smoke.”
According to Ms. Lin, who lives in number 657, she woke up at around 1:50 in the morning and went out to find that her neighbor’s house was on fire. He said that at that time 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 the moment, there are several theories on the cause of the fire. According to Mr Chen, a nearby resident, it is a rented house and the fire started due to the resident accidentally touching a wire plug on the wall. Some people also reported that a delivery man lived in the house, and speculated that the electric vehicle’s lithium battery was responsible for the fire.
However, according to a community source, the inside story of the fire may be more complicated; As far as he knows, long before the incident, the tenant on the second floor of the building had reported to the other landlord that the wire had short-circuited and caught fire, and flames rose. Another homeowner called a repairman and thought it had been repaired, but late at night the fire broke out again. There are differing opinions on the cause of the fire, but Mandani said the city fire department is conducting a thorough investigation and will definitely provide an explanation.
City Councilor Zhuang Wenyi, State Senator Chen Xuelia and Democratic candidate Xie Xiaoqiong, who defeated Chen Xuelia in the recent general election, were on site to learn about the situation. Zhuang Wenyi and Chen Xuelia said that if victims need any help, they can contact their office at any time and will try their best to provide assistance.
