Nearly two dozen firefighters in Staten Island were injured Saturday night battling a massive 5-alarm blaze that destroyed five houses, including the home of one of the department’s marshals.
The Fire Department tweeted that there were a total of 20 firemen injured. Four seriously and 16 with minor injuries. All were non-life-threatening.
All of the injured firefighters were taken to Richmond University Medical Center and Staten Island University Hospital.
Officials said one of the injured firemen hurt his chest when a stairway collapsed.
More than 20 Staten Island firefighters were injured battling a massive 5-alarm blaze Saturday night
The fire started just after 7pm and damaged five homes, including one belonging to the department’s marshal
‘They were moving up into the third floor from the second floor when the stairway collapsed and he wound up hurting his chest,’ an official told CBS.
The department said no civilians were injured in the inferno, which erupted just after 7pm at a three-story house on Steinway Avenue in New Springville.
According to the outlet, the fire destroyed the home of an FDNY marshal. He was at work and his family and baby were in New Jersey.
‘One of the houses is one of our fire marshals’. Fortunately, his family and his baby were down at the Jersey Shore for the weekend, but he was at work to come home and find that his house was destroyed,’ Chief of Department James Leonard said.
More than 250 FDNY members were on the scene. The flames spread to at least four neighboring houses less than an hour after it started. Five homes were damaged in the inferno, the department said.
One firefighter was injured when a stairway collapsed, officials said. All injuries were non-life-threatening
Neighbors said they believe the fire was sparked by a barbecue grill, but the FDNY has not revealed the official cause
Residents in the area gathered in front of the burning homes as the firemen worked to put out the blaze.
One person told the New York Daily News that he believes the fire was started by a barbecue grill.
‘All of a sudden I heard a small boom and my wife told me ‘come look,’ and I look outside. From my backyard I could see the whole deck was completely destroyed,’ said Joseph Zaher, who lives behind the burned homes.
‘I hope nobody got hurt. Those four houses, there are a lot of kids.’
Another neighbor said that the fire was so strong that flames were shooting out of the windows and ‘smoke was cascading right across, completely black’.
‘The smoke was just steaming off of it,’ Irene Savino said. ‘Three or four young girls ran down crying. It had to be one of their houses, the way these kids were sobbing.’
The dire department has not said what caused the massive blaze. The FDNY arson squad will investigate what happened, but said it did not appear to be suspicious.