Bitterly cold temperatures hindered firefighters’ efforts to douse a Brooklyn house fire early Wednesday, with frozen hydrants complicating the response as personnel encountered heavy flames, officials said.
A total of five people were injured in the blaze that broke out on 38th Street in the Flatlands around 12:45 a.m. All were neighbors; all but one of them were taken to hospitals. They’re expected to be OK. The people in the house got out safely, officials said.
That the flaming house was on a dead-end street complicated the operation, given the frozen hydrants, according to the FDNY.
“There was only one way to access the fire building, and it was a long, long supply to finally get water to the first engine. We ended up pulling everybody out and protect the exposures,” Chief James Carney, Division 15, said in part in a post on X.
Early Wednesday morning, the FDNY responded to calls for a fire at 1005 E 38 Street in Brooklyn.
“On arrival there was a heavy, heavy body of fire, which spread throughout quickly. Members were met with challenges right from the get-go with water. There were two frozen… pic.twitter.com/REt8BSFAiu
— FDNY (@FDNY) January 22, 2025
Video posted to the Citizen app showed angry orange flames leaping high into the night sky in what appears to be a residential neighborhood. More than 130 fire and EMS personnel responded to what became a three-alarm fire.
A cause of the fire is under investigation.
