Aerial fireworks set off on a Queens street to celebrate Diwali that caused two homes to catch fire were wildly zigzagging in the air, striking front porches and flying down alleyways into parked cars, videos shared by the FDNY on Thursday show.
The 23-second clip the FDNY posted on X shows sparks flying from the fireworks and raining down on vehicles, as well as shooting into the buildings’ wooden front porches and the homes’ sides.
The errant fireworks, which were fired off on Foch Blvd. near 132nd St. in South Ozone Park around 2:15 a.m. Wednesday, sparked a fire that damaged two homes, the FDNY said.
“Fireworks are dangerous AND illegal,” the department said on X while posting the video. “FDNY Fire Marshals determined that fireworks sparked a 2-alarm fire at 132-09 Foch Boulevard in Queens early Wednesday morning. The fire damaged multiple homes. Luckily, no one was seriously injured.”
A residential house on Foch Blvd. in Queens that caught fire after fireworks were set off in a neighbor’s yard as residents there celebrated Diwali on Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025. (Shawn Inglima/ New York Daily News)
The multicolored fireworks were part of a Diwali celebration, police sources confirmed.
A block resident ignited the explosives to mark the Hindu festival of lights, which was observed in the U.S. on Monday and Tuesday and is traditionally celebrated with fireworks.
The fireworks, however, went all over and landed on a neighboring home.
A box of fireworks is pictured outside a home on Foch Blvd. that caught fire from fireworks set off on a neighboring property in celebration of Diwali on Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025. (Shawn Inglima/ New York Daily News)
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 flames 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.
The rear view of a residential house on Foch Blvd. in Queens that caught fire after fireworks were set off in a neighbor’s yard as residents there celebrated Diwali on Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025. (Shawn Inglima/ New York Daily News)
Boxes of spent “Untamed Retribution” aerial fireworks were found in the street, next to a parked car, Wednesday morning. The FDNY’s post reminded everyone that fireworks are illegal in New York City and that anyone who sees someone setting off fireworks should call 311.
Originally Published: October 23, 2025 at 1:38 PM EDT