Massive Sunset Park Fire Injures 23, FDNY Says

SUNSET PARK, BROOKLYN — Nearly two dozen people were hurt when a massive blaze erupted inside a Sunset Park apartment building Wednesday afternoon, the FDNY said.

Flames began to spread across the top floor of 702 44th St., near Seventh Avenue, shortly before 5 p.m., officials said. But despite more than 250 firefighters working on the blaze, the strong winds left FDNY battling the fire for hours.

"The wind conditions are very serious and severe tonight, we had 20 to 30 mph winds gusting to over 40 mph," Chief of Department John Sudnik said on the scene around 9:15 p.m."We pulled firefighters out for safety reasons and operated with exterior tower ladders, it is now a total exterior operation."

The six-alarm fire caused the entire roof to collapse inside the six-story building, Sudnik said. There were 23 total injuries — four civilians and 19 firefighters — at the time of his press conference. All injuries were non-life threatening, he said.

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The 54-apartment complex has also been linked to the 14th worst landlord on the Public Advocate's 2018 list, New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development records show.

The building has racked up 32 HPD violations, including one for missing smoke detectors in a sixth floor apartment on March 27, city records show.

Video from onlookers shows that fire and smoke was pouring out of the top floor windows as crews tried to control the blaze.

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