An early-morning fire in Brownsville left 15 people injured and five displaced.
Photo by Lloyd Mitchell
Fifteen people were hospitalized and at least five displaced after a two-alarm fire tore through a mixed-use building in Brownsville early Thursday morning.
Firefighters arrived at a two-story building at 42 Lott Ave. just before 5 a.m. after a fire broke out on the first floor, which houses a laundromat and one apartment, and spread to the second floor, where there are two additional units.
“I smelled a heavy odor of smoke, fire trucks were barreling down the street, [putting] their ladders up to the windows and smashing glass,” said neighbor Claudia Martinez.
Thick smoke engulfed 42 Lott Ave. as a two-alarm fire tore through the building. Photo by Lloyd Mitchell
Flames shot from windows on the first and second floors of the building as more than 100 firefighters mounted their offensive. The operation was complicated somewhat by “clutter” on the first floor, firefighters said.
Two residents leaped from their windows to escape the blaze, according to sources on the scene. Both were seriously injured and brought to local hospitals by ambulance. An additional 13 people, all civilians, were hospitalized with minor injuries, per the FDNY. Initial reports said just six people had been hurt.
At least five people, including three adults and two children, registered for emergency housing with the American Red Cross, per the Department of Buildings.
Two people leaped from the building to escape the flames. Photo by Lloyd Mitchell.
The FDNY’s fire marshal will investigate the cause of the blaze.
The DOB issued a full vacate order after an inspector found “extensive” fire damage, a department spokesperson said. It also ordered the building owner to submit a professional engineer’s report on the structural integrity of the building.
The building’s roof was open to the elements, and multiple windows, doors and a skylight were blown out, records show.
Nearly 150 firefighters and paramedics responded to the scene. Photo by Lloyd Mitchell
42 Lott Ave. has 157 open violations with the Department of Housing Preservation and Development, city records show, and has been cited in recent years for missing smoke detectors, broken self-closing doors, and a host of issues ranging from broken windows to infestations of roaches.
In 2025, the building was enrolled in the city’s Alternative Enforcement Program, which is targeted at buildings with “many housing code maintenance violations” and allows the city to hire its own contractor to make repairs if necessary and take legal action against the property owner. It was not immediately clear what, if any, enforcement action had been taken at 42 Lott Ave.