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Firefighters Battle Brooklyn Warehouse Blaze

Click Here to watch a Newscast of this event (NY1) (Real Player)

Plumes of smoke were visible this morning here in Crown Heights along with the strong smell of smoke which you can still smell now. All this was due to this fire in Greenpoint, which has gone up to a 10th alarm, the largest ever in a decade, other then the 9-11 attacks.

The NY Times

Greenpoint, Broooklyn — A warehouse fire on the East River in Brooklyn on Tuesday sent plumes of thick black smoke over the city that could be seen for miles, as firefighters battled it for hours from land and boats. Eight firefighters suffered minor injuries.

Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta called it the largest fire in the city in more than a decade, excluding the World Trade Center attack, and said the cause was suspicious.

Flames enveloped the complex of seven vacant warehouses, blocking out the morning light and filling the Greenpoint neighborhood with acrid smoke, and collapsing several building walls.

Many more pictures in the Extended Article!

“That plus the fact that it started in the early morning are indications of a fire of suspicious origin,” Scoppetta said.

Seventy Fire Department units and 350 firefighters battled the blaze and two marine units sprayed water on the flames from the East River. More than 6 million gallons of water were poured on the blaze, Scoppetta said. The fire was still not under control by noon, more than six hours after it erupted.

The fire started just after 5:30 a.m. and went to an eight-alarm blaze shortly after 9 a.m. A partial collapse of the largest of the seven warehouses split a nearby utility pole around 9 a.m., witnesses said.

“We were standing here. A block away, you could feel the heat,” said Filip Mielnicki, 17, a neighbor watching the blaze with his friend, 18-year-old Wojciech Wasilewski.

Two firefighters were taken to a nearby hospital and the others were treated at the scene, Scoppetta said. Nearby residents wouldn’t have to be evacuated, but Scoppetta cautioned them to stay away from the smoke, which was still intense at midday.

The warehouse complex on West Street between Quay and Noble streets — measuring 200 feet by 800 feet — is officially unoccupied, though it was unclear whether squatters were living there, fire officials said. It was not clear what was inside the warehouses, but Scoppetta said bales of cloth burned in one of the buildings.

Department of Transportation spokesman Chris Gilbride said there were no detours or shutdowns of any major highway due to the smoke. However, he said there were slowdowns on the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, the Kosciusko Bridge and the FDR Drive between 30th and 40th streets, mainly because motorists were trying to see what was causing the smoke.

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28 Comments

  • Chaki

    I heard that this site of the fire was a warehouse that is owned by a Yid. Is there any info of casualties, is everyone alright?

  • chaya

    this is crazy!!!! and i thought things like this only happen in CH! i wonder how it happened………….. it better have been in a natural way.. or the police have to get on with it.

  • * very distressed about this whole issue

    oy vey, what a shame! what caused this horrible thing? i hope all is and was done to take care of what has happened……………..

  • jhjk@!jk.com

    i also heard it is under investigation as being suspicious

  • moshiach

    Chaki- I can confirm that the building is indeed owned by a Jew whom I personally know.

  • AB

    Chaki – how many Jews do you know who are at work at 5:30 a.m………………… :)

  • new jersey

    the smell came all the way to new jersey!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • hi

    i was playing in one of the parks on the fdr drive and i saw big black clouds and it stunk

  • we smelled it too.

    wow. we smelled the fire during school, here in crown heights!

  • Mendel Fitzhume

    It was truly a BIG fire! This truly rivals some of the bigger fires that we have seen also in Crown Heights in past years.

  • SCARY..

    OMG the smell must be DISGUSTING…
    they wre really good pictures the picture witht he firefighter taking a picture was pretty funny… usualy they dont do that they help but ok… thats really scary…
    How did the Fire start?? i sure hope no one started it b/c that would be very mean…

  • chana

    i was smelling fire the whole day i live c.h and i go to bais rivkah

  • not from around here.....

    I am very impressed with all the great coverage you guys do. Great pic’s , great writting.

  • fully informed

    from what I was told the warehouse complex was emty for years now and it is scheduled for redevelopment that is one of the reasen’s that they are calling it suspicious don’t any of you worry everything wil be just fine other then that I think it’s great to have a record set like that in our life time enjoy the pictures maybe even print it out b/c I dout you’ll have one of those for a long time now. -I hope so at least- (and by the way the fire Dep. does not even have a 10 alarm code in there list of codes [from what I understand] that just shows how much they expect such a thing the most they have is 6 alarm)

  • Itzik_s

    I hope this is not (but fear it is) Ingarish Lightning, vehamayvin yavin. We’ve had enough chilul hashem arson (BH not from Lubavitch) in the frum community lately.

  • the name!

    hello this is crazy!! and amazing this pic’s are the best wow!!

    how did you get over there??

    Anyways

    I heard on the radio that there is still POCKETS of fire!!

  • speachles menachem

    what a fire t’snot evry day ya si a fire thet big!!!

  • Mendel Fitzhume

    We can never overstate how truly important our firemen are to us. These men put it on the line everyday for us! God bless them.