A raging fire threatened to destroy building on Houston Street Thursday aftrernoon.
The 911 call came in at 5:36 p.m., officials said. Within 15 minutes the inferno had completely engulfed the rooftop of the five-story building at 240 East Houston Street.
Officials said the residential building had scaffolding surrounding it and there was work being done on the roof.
"There was a ball of fire on the roof of the building," said Pete Giannopoulos, owner of Remedy Diner across the street. "The building didn't seem dilapidated or anything, I don't know if they were doing construction or what."
The fire was at three alarms by 5:55 p.m., with 138 firefighters on the scene, officials said. No injuries had been reported as of that time. By 6:05 firefighters were on the roof and seemed to have the blaze under control.
Eight firefighters suffered minor heat-related injuries, officials said.
The sweltering heat has been a deterrent in fighting fires around the city for the past few days. On Wednesday, two separate five-alarm fires sent at least 30 firefighters to the hospital with minor injuries related to the heat.
