Firefighters battle a house fire on Warwick Street in East New York Saturday morning.
Photo by Lloyd Mitchell
Firefighters across Brooklyn were kept busy over the weekend, battling a series of fires in apartments, homes and commercial buildings, including a blaze involving lithium-ion batteries at a Fort Greene storage facility.
The most significant fire came early Saturday, when firefighters in Fort Greene responded to a report of a fire at a commercial building at 1 Carlton Ave. just after 4 a.m.
Responding units were met by a burning lithium-ion battery outside a storage facility. After cutting through the facility’s roll-down gates, firefighters discovered an unattached shipping container filled with lithium-ion batteries.
The FDNY’s hazmat trio — Hazmat Battalion, Hazmat 1 and Engine Company 250 — was called to evaluate the situation. The FDNY’s Fire Marshals Office will determine the cause of the fire.
The weekend fires began Friday evening, when firefighters in Bushwick’s 37th Battalion were alerted to an apartment fire at 242 Central Ave. just after 6:40 p.m. Responding members found heavy fire in the rear of the fourth floor of a wood-frame dwelling. The fire escalated to a second alarm and was brought under control at 7:20 p.m.
About 40 minutes later, firefighters in Canarsie responded to a basement fire in a commercial building at 8400 Flatlands Ave. Twelve units and 65 firefighters used a hose line to knock down the main body of the fire. The blaze was brought under control at 8:12 p.m.
About four hours after the Fort Greene fire, just after 9:20 a.m. Saturday, firefighters in East New York were alerted to a house fire at 569 Warwick St. after receiving multiple calls. Engine Company 290 and Ladder Company 103 advised incoming units that smoke was visible from a distance.
FDNY crews respond to a house fire on Warwick Street in East New York.Photo by Lloyd Mitchell
Firefighters used a hose line to knock down a fire in the rear of the home. The blaze was brought under control by 9:42 a.m.
Shortly before 10:55 a.m. Sunday, Tower Ladder 157 responded to a kitchen fire at 3401 Avenue J. Firefighters encountered smoke coming from the second floor of a six-story, non-fireproof building and residents fleeing via the fire escape.
Searches throughout the building were negative, and the fire was brought under control at 11:15 a.m.
The busy stretch followed another fire earlier in the week. On Tuesday morning, firefighters responded to a house fire at 4514 Avenue L. Units in the 33rd Battalion received multiple calls reporting a fire on the second floor just after 10:20 a.m.
More than 70 firefighters from 12 units deployed multiple hose lines and launched an aggressive interior attack to knock down the main body of the fire.
Firefighters work to knock down a fire at a home on Avenue L.Photo by Lloyd Mitchell
Firefighters were forced to break out multiple windows and enter another apartment to help limit the damage. Searches throughout the building were negative, and no injuries were reported.
The fire was brought under control at 10:55 a.m. The FDNY’s Fire Marshals Office will investigate the cause and origin of all of the fires.