Two-Alarm Fire At 33 Hinckley Pl. Last Night
Photo by harlanerskine / harlanerskine.com
A fire in an abandoned house at 33 Hinckley Pl. (between Coney Island Ave. and E 8th St.), called in at 10:44pm, summoned 25 units and 106 firefighters total, said a spokesman for the FDNY. The fire in the house’s 2nd floor and attic was brought under control shortly before midnight.
The house has a bit of a past: as far back as 1911, owners were looking to sell, with the attractive pitch of “people leaving town.” In the summer of 2011, neighbor Valerie Gallaher says, a prostitute was killed behind the house, and this June 2011 police blotter mentions a murder behind a building on Hinckley and E 8th.
The other interesting thing to note about the house is that it was part of the lot designated for PS/IS 338K, scheduled for completion in late 2016.
Last week, the house looked like this:
And now:
Neighbors responded to the fire in different ways:
Oh neat — the abandoned house across the street from us (where someone was murdered years back) nearly burned to the ground last night!
— David Gallaher ? NYCC D-11 (@DavidGallaher) May 1, 2013
listening to chainsaws and firetrucks as that poor old house is swallowed in smoke…
— Crissa-Jean Chappell (@crissachappell) May 1, 2013
“@FDNY: BKLYN 2-ALARM 33 HINCKLEY PL, VACANT FIRE ON 2ND FLR AND ATTIC,” Right behind my building! pic.twitter.com/lEku6o1Sz7
— Lindsay M (@reed029) May 1, 2013
The cause of the fire is under investigation.