A squatter was killed when a fire erupted Tuesday morning inside a Brooklyn building that has a troubling history of arson and unwelcome guests, fire officials said.
The victim, a woman roughly in her 40s, was found dead inside the burnt-out home after FDNY firefighters struggled to extinguish the “heavy body of fire” inside the “sealed” building at 1237 67th Street in Dyker Heights around 8 a.m., Assistant Fire Chief David Simms said during a press conference.
“There was a delay in getting water on the fire due to the fact that the building was cinder-blocked up,” Simms said.
The body of the squatter, who had built a makeshift home on the property, was discovered in the alleyway in the rear of the two-story structure, Simms said.
“She had built a shanty in between the basement entrance where she was squatting illegally, there was an entranceway knocked in the cinder block so she could make entry into the building,” he said.
No other injuries were reported.
There were five previous fires at the 8-bedroom home over the past two years and at least one was set by a prior squatter who was charged with arson, according to past reports and Simms. He noted the building is currently “unstable” and taped off.
The owner of the $1.1 million multifamily home told The Post last year he has long struggled with squatters after the building caught fire in April 2024.
“Every two or three weeks I go there but I don’t approach,” MTA worker Zafar Iqbal previously said.
“I don’t know if these guys have weapons or whatever. My safety is precious too.”
He said in the past interview he lived in one part of the home, while renting out the rest for three years after buying it for $1.1 million in 2017, but moved out alongside his tenants to renovate it before squatters threw a wrench in those plans.
After the latest inferno on Tuesday, family members were left frustrated, thinking “Here we go again,” a relative of Iqbal told The Post.
The cause of the deadly blaze is under investigation.
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