Community Risk

Smoking May Have Sparked Massive Brooklyn Blaze

Oct. 24, 2013

A three-alarm fire in Flatbush that left a more than a dozen homeless was likely caused by improperly discarded smoking material.

Source amNewYork, New York

Oct. 23--A "careless discard of smoking materials" on a front porch is believed to have caused a massive fire in Flatbush early yesterday morning that reportedly left more than a dozen people homeless, according to the FDNY.

Thirty-three trucks and 138 firefighters battled the three-alarm blaze at the three-story home, which broke out at 1063 East 35th St. near Flatbush Avenue shortly before 4 a.m., a Fire Department spokesman said. Three people, including two firefighters, suffered minor injuries, but they were not serious enough to warrant hospitalization. Firefighters battled the blaze for almost two hours, finally getting it under control at 5:40 a.m.