Queens house fire sparked by neighbor’s Diwali fireworks celebration

A Queens house fire was apparently sparked by a neighbor setting off fireworks as part of a Diwali celebration early Wednesday, police sources said.

The blaze broke out about 2:15 a.m. in the home on Foch Blvd. near 132nd St. in South Ozone Park, the FDNY said.

Cops were informed the blaze had been caused by fireworks set off in a neighbor’s yard as residents there celebrated Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights.

Diwali, which symbolizes the triumph of good over evil, was observed in the U.S. on Monday and Tuesday and is traditionally celebrated with fireworks.

Three people asleep inside the home managed to escape as the fire raged, neighbors told CBS News New York. Medics took two people with minor injuries to area hospitals.

“I was up and I smelled the smoke and saw the fire. Came running down, called my mother and father-in-law,” Mohiuddin Saif told CBS. “They noticed the fire at the same time, too. So we basically all just ran outside at the same time.”

The fire grew in intensity and quickly spread to a neighboring home, FDNY officials said. More than 100 firefighters and EMS personnel were called in to put out the blaze, which was brought under control within an hour.

Neighbors told police that fireworks lit up the sky just moments before the fire started. When the blaze was put out, boxes of fireworks were found outside a neighbor’s home, neighbors told CBS.

The official cause of the fire was under investigation Wednesday. No arrests have been made.