NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — Four people, including three firefighters, are injured and 10 families are displaced after a fire burned through a row of buildings in Brooklyn on Saturday night.
The fire broke out on the top floor of 335 Graham Ave., a three-story building in Williamsburg, at about 10:30 p.m. and quickly spread to two adjoining structures.
“We identify them also as row-frame buildings, they’re made entirely of wood, and the fire traveled heavily in that common cockloft, involving all three buildings and directly through the walls,” FDNY Chief of Operations Kevin Woods said.
The blaze escalated to a 4-alarm fire and the FDNY deployed about 200 firefighters and EMS personnel with over 50 pieces of fire apparatus to quell the flames.
Woods said the FDNY used what is called an “aggressive interior fire attack” to minimize damage to the apartments in the building.
“We did a tremendous job preventing further extension and further damage to the adjoining structures,” Woods said.
Three firefighters were transported to an area hospital to treat injuries, and one occupant was treated at the scene, officials said.
Woods said that 10 families were displaced by the devastating fire, and they are being assisted by the American Red Cross.
A business on the first floor of the building, City Chemist, is a beauty and pharmacy store that local resident Tom Cook told 1010 WINS was his go-to spot.
“Devastating because it’s a family business, it’s been here for decades, and as we all know, they’re few and far between these days in New York, the ever-changing community, so you hope they could bounce back,” he said.
A woman who lived in the building watched her apartment burn for nearly four hours before firefighters were able to subdue the blaze.
“Yeah, everyone’s safe. It’s all that matters,” she said. “But it’s hard to watch it burn, you know.”
FDNY fire marshals are investigating the cause of the fire.