At Least One Dead, Three Injured After Building Explodes in Brooklyn
At least one person is dead and several others injured—including a child—after a possible gas explosion caused the collapse of a building in Brooklyn on Saturday, NY1 reports.
The FDNY says more than 160 firefighters remain at the scene after crews responded to 4206 13th Avenue, in Borough Park, just after 1pm. Per Gothamist, one of those injured is believed to be a firefighter; three people with non-life-threatening injuries were taken to a local hospital by Hatzolah EMS.
According to the New York Times, the cause of the blast has not yet been determined, but the Fire Department suspects a gas leak:
The building, which was built in 1930, has a storefront on the ground floor and apartments on the upper floors. It has not been cited for code violations since 1997, according to records available online.
Records show that the building’s owner installed a gas-fired boiler in 1993 to replace an oil-fired boiler. An inspection of the gas boiler by an insurance agent in July 2014 found no defects, according to the most recent records available on the Buildings Department’s website.
Governor Andrew Cuomo released a statement calling the explosion part of a “disturbing trend,” referring to the building explosions in Harlem and the East Village:
Earlier today, an explosion took place at a building in the Borough Park neighborhood in Brooklyn. This explosion is the latest in a disturbing trend of incidents that occurred in Harlem and the East Village. In light of this, I am directing the State Department of Public Service to undertake an investigation into the cause of this incident. That investigation is ongoing, and updates will be provided to the public as soon as they are available.
The Department of Buildings warned of a possible building collapse and said that staffers were on their way to the site of the explosion to inspect the damage.
“We heard like the floor shake and like there was a big exploision. We just grabbed everything, my uncles everything. We grabbed everybody and just left out,” one witness told NY1.
“I see a man who was hopping on one leg. And I think he got injured because something fell down,” another said. “And so then I didn’t know what to do because I was with my little sister so I was like, ‘Let’s go! let’s go! We can’t be here.’”
FDNY confirms fatal fire in Bk. Fire moving to 2 other buildings. Cause unknown. Residents report hearing explosion. pic.twitter.com/Fthd7QgRtb
— Brynn Gingras (@Brynn4NY) October 3, 2015
Brooklyn I'm on the scene of a Fatal 3rd Alarm Fire & Gas Explosion with a collapse on 13th Ave & 42nd St pic.twitter.com/MB8LKJDacp
— David T (@nycbikerider) October 3, 2015
#HappeningNow #FDNy operations ongoing at scene of incident on43 Street & 13 Avenue in #Brooklyn pic.twitter.com/Ijngr9sszT
— FDNY (@FDNY) October 3, 2015
Photo credit: NYPD/Twitter. Contact the author of this post: brendan.oconnor@gawker.com.