By Michael V. Cusenza
Five firefighters were injured early Sunday morning battling a quick four-alarm inferno in South Jamaica.
The Sutphin Boulevard blaze erupted on the first floor of a commercial/residential building shortly after 6 a.m. It was deemed under control at 8:02 a.m.
“On arrival we had heavy fire showing from the first floor of a two story mixed occupancy which quickly extended to the second floor and through shafts into exposures two and four. A second alarm was transmitted just five minutes into the operation. The fire eventually escalated to a fourth alarm, bringing 49 units and roughly 170 firefighters to the scene. Units operated an aggressive interior attack on all buildings, conducted searches, and continued to check for extension,” said Assistant Chief Malcolm Moore, chief of City Fire Department Special Operations.
Photo Courtesy of FDNY
Three of the five firefighters that were hurt suffered serious, but non-life-threatening injuries.
“When I came to work and I went in the building, I smelled the fume and the smoke, and we looked around and all of it’s fuming and smoking, and me and another coworker was there,” a woman told WABC-7 Eyewitness News. “When I came outside, I see smoke out of the building, and I came out and then I rushed to my building upstairs, wake up my daughter and we headed out and then we called the fire truck.”
The five Bravest were treated on scene and rushed to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center by EMS. Three suffered serious, but non-life-threatening injuries. The cause of the fire is under investigation by FDNY fire marshals.
