A fire tore through a two-story row house in Brooklyn’s Sunset Park neighborhood early Thursday, killing six people and injuring seven others, including three firefighters, the city’s fire department said. The Sunset Park Brooklyn fire is the deadliest reported in the area in this account, according to ABC News US, which is the only outlet whose reporting on the casualty figures was available for this article.
According to ABC News US, more than 200 first responders quickly reached the building. Chief of fire operations Kevin Woods said that on arrival there was fire on every floor and fire blowing out every window.
Firefighters rescued four people. Two of them were trapped behind window bars and were reached through a rear entrance, the report said.
The fire was brought under control in about three hours, ABC News US reported. Eight neighbors were displaced and taken to hotels.
According to the department, four people died at the scene. Two people with critical injuries died later at a hospital. Four others had injuries that were not life-threatening.
Investigators found a lithium-ion battery at the scene. The department said it was unknown whether the battery was related to the cause of the fire, ABC News US reported. The cause has not been determined.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani called the fire devastating. He said the neighborhood would take a long time to mourn and recover, according to ABC News US.
Fire marshals are investigating the cause. Officials have not said when a determination will be made.
Several key details rest on a single outlet. No second news organization confirmed the casualty figures in the sources reviewed. No names of the dead or injured have been released. The sources also do not give the ages of those killed or injured, details about how the building was occupied, or the names of the displaced residents. Beyond statements made at a news conference, no further response from the fire department is included in the material available for this report.
The Sunset Park fire is one of the deadliest residential fires reported in Brooklyn in recent coverage, but the sources do not provide a comparison with earlier incidents. Readers should watch for an official cause determination from the fire marshals, which would clarify whether the lithium-ion battery played any role.
Sources
This article was written with AI assistance from the published reporting listed above. It is part of the World Brief daily news podcast.