Nearly 400 FDNYers Battle 4- and 5-Alarm Fires in Brooklyn, Manhattan Wednesday

A total of nearly 400 FDNY members, including firefighters and EMS, were battling four- and five-alarm blazes in Brooklyn and Manhattan early Wednesday, officials said. No serious injuries have been reported in either case.

The Brooklyn fire erupted in Flatbush, on Lenox Road, around 11 a.m. It escalated to four alarms less than 15 minutes after that.

Firefighters were still on the scene, which was described as “active” an hour later. No injuries were immediately reported. The cause of the fire wasn’t known.

The Brooklyn fire came on the heels of another raging blaze, one that escalated to five alarms, on Lenox Avenue in Harlem earlier Wednesday.

That call came in around 3 a.m. It continued to rage more than three hours later.

That fire involved a commercial building that appeared to have been totally destroyed by the flames. Again, nearly 200 (198, according to the FDNY) FDNY personnel responded. One firefighter was said to have suffered minor injuries. It was declared under control around 7:30 a.m., the FDNY said.

Although the fire that broke out in Manhattan was under control as of noon Wednesday, businesses that were staples in Harlem are now gone.

This fire erupted on Lennox Avenue near West 135th Street at around 3 a.m., not too far from Harlem Hospital. The massive blaze started off as a cockloft fire — a fire that starts in the void space between the ceiling and the roofing.

The sheer volume of fire required the FDNY to signal a five alarm that brought nearly 250 firefighters and EMS personnel to the scene. Units responded in mere minutes and found heavy smoke and fire through the roof of a row of businesses.

“Units responded within four minutes and found heavy smoke and fire through the roof of this building,” FDNY Deputy Assistant Chief John Sarrocco said. “The fire continued to extend in the cockloft area which is the space between the top floor ceiling and the roof, through six stores. Due to concerns about stability of the building and that large volume of fire, we had to pull our units out.”

Chopper 4 was over the scene for much of the morning as the fire crews in tower ladders worked to extinguish the flames, putting as much water on the fire as possible, but was still smoldering this morning.

One firefighter was transported to nearby Harlem Hospital to be treated for their injuries.

About six to seven commercial businesses were destroyed due to the flames and water damage, including a furniture store and Manna’s, a restaurant staple specializing in soul food.

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