Arson investigators are looking into a blaze at a house under construction in Forest Hills late Wednesday, the seventh such fire that has broken out in the affluent Queens neighborhood in about a month.
The blaze was reported at a vacant home under construction 67th Drive late on Wednesday, according to fire officials. No one was injured in the blaze, and it was brought under control just after midnight.
Fire officials called the blaze suspicious, putting already on-edge neighbors in the Queens neighborhood on alert.
The first fire broke out in late October, when a vacant home caught fire on 113th Street. On Nov. 8, there was another fire at a home under construction on 112th Street, and just on Tuesday, a large fire engulfed a home being built at 66th Avenue and 108th Street.
Police said after a fire Nov. 17 that they were putting additional officers on the streets as they look for suspicious activity, and have teamed up with the FDNY's arson unit to investigate.
When the NYPD's 112th Precinct station tweeted about the Nov. 17 fire and asked residents to avoid the area, neighbors responded with concern: "Another one?" "Why so many fires in the neighborhood lately?"
The NYPD followed up in another tweet: "We're aware of the recent rash of residential fires in #ForestHills. We're coordinating with #FDNY and other investigative authorities."
Even though no one has been injured in the fires, fire can be unpredictable, police say, and so authorities are asking for the public's help quickly.
Anyone with information about the fires is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS.
