Fire in Gravesend severely damages home under construction

GRAVESEND, Brooklyn (PIX 11) — A three-alarm fire in Gravesend tore through a two-family home under construction at 1834 East 4th Street Thursday, according to the FDNY.

Fire officials say the inferno erupted just after 2:15 in the afternoon. 

“Upon arrival, this building was fully involved,” said Kevin Woods, Chief of Fire Operations at the FDNY. “The building was under construction. We had workers in the building that did self-evacuate. There are no injuries to those workers.”

The FDNY said the fire started while contractors were welding as part of ongoing renovations. Fire officials believe a small fire extended to nearby beams before quickly growing bigger.

“They did call 911 to alert us,” Chief Fire Marshall Dan Flynn said. “There are permits in place for work to be conducted at that building. We will examine those permits and make sure that they were operating responsibly.”

The flames spread to homes on both sides of the building. PIX11 News watched as one family removed their belongings from one of those homes, declining to comment. One neighbor who chose to remain anonymous said he witnessed a life-saving moment. 

“There was big flames,” he said. “Smoke. I thought it was dangerous the smoke. It smelled like electric. There was a woman that ran and saved a baby.”

Firefighters were forced to battle the blaze from the outside due to concerns about the structure’s stability, according to the FDNY, which said the roof of the building collapsed early into the operation. Fire officials escalated the response to a second and third-alarm fire with 140 firefighters and EMS personnel responding.

The American Red Cross has offered assistance to families impacted by the fire, but they said all residents could self-relocate with friends and family.