NY Times – March 10, 2015
by ASHLEY SOUTHALL and JOHN SURICO
A fire in southern Brooklyn left four homes on a canal badly damaged and six firefighters injured on Monday, the authorities and neighbors said. The Fire Department said the blaze broke out just before 2:20 p.m. on National Drive in Mill Basin in a row of semidetached houses that back up to a canal. Thick plumes of smoke could be seen rising from the homes as red flames shot from the roof and back of the home where the fire started.
Neighbors said wind coming off the canal helped the fire spread. The waterway allowed a Fire Department Marine Unit to spray water on the house.
The six firefighters were taken to hospitals to be treated for non-life-threatening injuries, the Fire Department said.
Three homes were heavily damaged, and a fourth was partly damaged, the Fire Department said.
The fire started at 2220 National Drive and spread to an attached home, before jumping across a narrow alley to another pair of homes, the Fire Department said. Each home has a bay window, through which the smoldering debris left from the fire was visible.
The Fire Department said four alarms were sounded for the fire, bringing in 175 firefighters from 39 units. The blaze was brought under control shortly before 5 p.m.
The cause of the fire remained under investigation. A fire marshal at the scene late Monday said his team had not been able to enter the buildings.
Shula Lurieli, 52, who lives next door to the home where the fire started, said she was at her daughter’s house when she received a phone call.
“I just heard that there was a fire on National Drive,” she said. “And that it was in my home.”
Her home, at 2222 National Drive, was badly damaged.
Neighbors said the quiet block was barely visible through the smoke.
“It was like a black fog,” said Adine Hamlin, who lives across the street. “You couldn’t see anything.
“All I saw was a young man with his dog, barefooted and sitting outside, and I knew something was wrong,” she continued. “I just asked if he called 911.”
On Monday evening, outside her blackened home, Ms. Lurieli said only her dog was home during the fire and the animal escaped. For the next few days, she said, she would stay at her daughter’s home.
“I don’t what I’m going to do,” she said. “I haven’t been told anything yet.”
Al Baker contributed reporting.
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