4 Firefighters Hurt In Massive Blaze On Montague St In BK: FDNY

BROOKLYN, NY — Four firefighters were hurt when a massive blaze broke out on Montague Street on Friday morning, according to FDNY officials.

The fire — which had escalated to a four-alarm blaze by 8:30 a.m. — broke out just after 6:20 a.m. in a building between Clinton and Henry streets in Brooklyn Heights, according to the FDNY's alerts. It was under control shortly before 10 a.m., officials said.

Firefighters couldn't immediately tell where the fire had started as they arrived at the blaze, but flames quickly engulfed the second, third, fourth and fifth floor of the building, said FDNY Chief of Operations John Hodgens.

Four firefighters suffered non-life threatening burns from the blaze, but no civilians were hurt, Hodgens said.

Only one resident of the building, which includes apartments and an optometrist office, was home at the time of the fire, he added.

"It's a tough time of the year for a fire like this," Hodgens said. "Thank god there were no injuries to civilians."

The four-alarm blaze also evacuated two buildings next to 132 Montague St., though Hodgens said there was no fire damage to the neighboring buildings.

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Brooklynites were told to avoid the area while crews battled the fire and nearby residents were warned to close their windows due to smoke near the block, emergency management team officials said.

The NYPD's Special Ops team was also helping fire officials by providing "aerial reconnaissance" of the fire.

Hodgens said the fire became particularly precarious when one of the firefighters became briefly trapped inside the building. Another three members helped with the rescue, leading to the four firefighter injuries, he said.

"We were quickly able to remove them," Hodgens said.

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