Midwood Fire Rips Through 3 Homes, Injures 5, FDNY Says

MIDWOOD, BROOKLYN, NY — Five people, including a baby, were injured Thursday morning in a massive Midwood fire that affected three homes, according to reports and fire officials.

The blaze broke out in a home on East 17th Street between Avenue O and Avenue N around 4 a.m., fire officials said. When firefighters arrived at the scene they found three homes on the block burning and the response escalated to a third alarm within five minutes, Chief of Fire Operations Thomas Richardson said during a press conference.

"Any time you have a large volume of fire on arrival it's kind of overwhelming the resources," Richardson said. "That's why we quickly transmitted to third alarm to get additional resources on the scene, and we were able to contain the fire to the three buildings."

The volume of flame forced firefighters to evacuate the buildings and focus on containing the fire from outside, Richardson said.

The fire was placed under control around 7:20 a.m., fire officials said. The four-alarm response drew 45 fire units, 25 EMS units and 170 firefighters to the tree-lined Brooklyn block made up of single-family homes with front yards.

The five people who were hurt during the fire suffered minor injuries and are in stable condition Chief of EMS Operations Lilian Bonsignore said Thursday. Four of the people injured were civilians, one a baby, and the fifth was a firefighter.

The three homes affected by the fire all suffered "extensive damage," Richardson said. Fire marshals have begun and investigation to determine the cause of the fire.