A contractor's illegal use of a torch is to blame for the five-alarm fire that ravaged part of a Queens apartment building Wednesday afternoon, injuring more than a dozen people, fire officials said Thursday.
Reports of the fire on 47th Avenue came in around noon Wednesday. The fire was reported on the sixth floor of the building and escalated to five alarms within two hours, prompting area road closures. It was declared under control by late afternoon. Only apartments on the top three floors were impacted by the inferno.
Fire officials said Thursday that the blaze started in a vacant sixth-floor apartment. A contractor was using a torch to heat lead paint off a metal closet door frame and noticed smoke coming from the frame, the FDNY said. The worker removed plaster around the door frame and saw small flames on the wood studs, so tried to douse it with water.
A short time later, according to the FDNY, a department captain arrived and asked about the fire. The worker showed the charred wood studs, at which point the captain realized the fire had extended further into the walls, fire officials said. It was reported to be in the cockloft, spreading across the roof, a short time later.
It wasn't immediately clear if the contractor would face charges. The investigation is ongoing.
Fourteen people, including firefighters and two NYPD members, were hurt, though the FDNY said none of their injuries were considered to be life-threatening. The FDNY said at least 40 people were displaced by the flames.
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