FDNY

5 hurt in major NYC house fire as firefighters battle frozen hydrants

All five injured people were neighbors; the people in the house got out safely

NBC Universal, Inc.

Bitterly cold temperatures hindered firefighters' efforts to douse a Brooklyn house fire early Wednesday, with frozen hydrants complicating the response as personnel encountered heavy flames, officials said.

A total of five people were injured in the blaze that broke out on 38th Street in the Flatlands around 12:45 a.m. All were neighbors; all but one of them were taken to hospitals. They're expected to be OK. The people in the house got out safely, officials said.

That the flaming house was on a dead-end street complicated the operation, given the frozen hydrants, according to the FDNY.

Watch NBC 4 free wherever you are

Watch button  WATCH HERE

"There was only one way to access the fire building, and it was a long, long supply to finally get water to the first engine. We ended up pulling everybody out and protect the exposures,” Chief James Carney, Division 15, said in part in a post on X.

Get Tri-state area news delivered to your inbox with NBC New York's News Headlines newsletter.

Newsletter button  SIGN UP

Video posted to the Citizen app showed angry orange flames leaping high into the night sky in what appears to be a residential neighborhood. More than 130 fire and EMS personnel responded to what became a three-alarm fire.

A cause of the fire is under investigation.

Brooklyn news

From Park Slope to Dumbo to Bushwick to Brooklyn Heights and all points between, NBC New York covers Brooklyn news, weather, traffic and more.

NYC ‘Holiday House' gets decked out for Valentine's Day: See the extravagant décor

Woman nearly raped in Brooklyn Heights lobby by fake ICE agent in broad daylight

Romney Smith reporting on 5 people hurt in Brooklyn house fire.
Contact Us