A four-alarm fire that devastated a Greenpoint home last week was caused by food left cooking on the stove, investigators have concluded.
Photo by Lloyd Mitchell
The four-alarm fire that destroyed a two-family apartment building in Greenpoint last week was accidental, FDNY investigators have concluded, and an investigation by Brooklyn Paper determined that the building was being foreclosed upon at the time of the fire.
The department announced on Dec. 20 that the devastating blaze – which badly damaged three residential buildings and displaced at least 18 people — was caused by food left cooking on the stove on the first floor at 137 Kingsland Ave.
The fire began just before 4 a.m. on Dec. 15 and rapidly spread through the two-story home and into the apartment buildings on either side. Residents fled into the street, banging on neighbors’ doors to wake them up as they went.
Seven people — including two firefighters — were injured in the fire, which raged for three hours before a team of more than 160 firefighters could bring it under control.
The Department of Buildings placed full vacate orders on 137 Kingsland Ave. and two adjacent buildings, 135 and 139 Kingsland Ave. — noting after inspections that all three buildings had sustained severe fire, smoke, and water damage, with holes in the shared walls between the homes.
Three other buildings were damaged by the fire and by firefighting operations, and water from the firehouses flooded two adjacent buildings.Â
According to the Red Cross, 18 people from ten households registered for emergency assistance after the fire, and ten people sought temporary shelter through the organization.Â
Loved ones have set up online fundraisers for Greenpointers who lost their homes and belongings in the fire, hoping to help them with short-term housing and necessities and long-term recovery.Â
One family member, Jaycee Collado, organized a fundraiser for her mother Jacqueline and brother…
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