Operations & Training

Fatal Explosion Tears Roof Off Queens Apartment Building

Aug. 10, 2021

Four FDNY firefighters suffered minor injuries after a large explosion erupted at a Jackson Heights apartment building, leaving one person dead and collapsing parts of the sixth floor.

By Thomas Tracy

Source New York Daily News

An explosion destroyed the roof of an apartment building in the Jackson Heights section of Queens on Tuesday, leaving one person dead.

A massive explosion blew the roof off a Queens apartment building Tuesday, killing a man inside, official said.

The blast erupted inside the brick apartment building on 41st Ave. near 73rd St. in Jackson Heights about 10:25 a.m. One person was found dead at the scene. Four firefighters suffered minor injuries,

“There was a penthouse structure above the sixth floor,” FDNY Chief Thomas Currao said. “We have significant damage to the penthouse structure as well as the rear of the sixth floor.”

Sections of the sixth floor collapsed, Currao said.

“We have a very unstable situation right now, so much so that we evacuated the two buildings to the rear of the fire structure,” he said.

More than 140 firefighters responded and quickly put out the fire sparked by the explosion.

Firefighters and city Department of Building inspectors were investigating the cause of the blast and figuring out the best way to stabilize the building.

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