A five-alarm blaze ripped through a historic Brooklyn warehouse overnight, leaving two of New York’s Bravest injured as firefighters battled the fire for nearly six hours.
More than 250 FDNY personnel fought the flames after being called to the unoccupied 155-year-old Red Hook warehouse shortly before midnight Wednesday, with the fire finally brought under control at nearly 6 a.m., fire officials said Thursday.
“We had extensive damage to this building,” FDNY Chief of Operations Kevin Woods said at a press briefing. “We had the roof collapse, and we also had the fourth floor collapse.
“So, we will have structural engineers evaluate that,” he said. “This fire went to a fifth alarm assignment where we used over 250 firefighters and EMS personnel. The fire is not yet under control. We continue to pour water on this fire, and we will probably be here for the remainder of the day.”
Woods said the fire was so fierce when firefighters arrived that they had to be pulled out of the building to fight the flames from the outside, with fire boats and drones called in to the waterfront warehouse.
“The building was built in 1870 so the building’s over 150 years old,” the chief said. “This type of construction is called heavy timber. It’s all wood. Heavy, heavy timber, minimum 8-by-8 columns and girders. So once these structural members start going, the fire takes off rather quickly.”
He said the two firefighters who were hurt suffered minor injuries.
The warehouse houses an artists’ studio and was scheduled to host a public exhibit next month, but was empty at the time the fire broke out, officials said.
Fire marshals are investigating the cause of the blaze, Woods said.
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