3-Alarm Fire Damages Three Coney Island Homes

CONEY ISLAND – A three-alarm fire raced through the ceilings and roofs of three homes in Coney Island early Monday morning, injuring two firefighters, neither seriously, fire officials said.

Firefighters were hampered by ongoing water main reconstruction at the East 19th Street fire between Neptune and Mermaid Avenues, officials said.

Community Board 13 District Manager Eddie Mark, who lives on the same block, was on the scene. He said only days before, the incident would have been even more serious as the entire street was blocked by the multi-million-dollar reconstruction of aging water mains.

The fire broke out 12:08 a.m. when residents smelled smoke in 2828 West 19th Street, an interconnected row of two-story row houses. When firefighters arrived, they had to make their way around piles of construction debris from the water main replacement project. The fire quickly went to a second and then third alarm, bringing in more than 100 firefighters who swarmed into the home and two adjoining homes as the fire spread through the ceilings and cocklofts of the buildings.

“We smelled the smoke and I said to my family, ‘We have to get out of here,'” said Jose Ramos who lives in a connected home. “The smoke really got thick, but the firefighters were there pretty quick.”

Firefighters had to tear open the roofs of three of the homes and the façade of at least two more as the fire spread through open common cockloft spaces that are between the apartment ceilings and the roofs.

Mark said it was lucky that the fire didn’t occur during the height of construction because the entire street was blocked by construction debris and excavations for the new water main. He said he expected the work on West 19th Street to be completed by July. Work is also ongoing on other streets related to utility replacement.

The fire was said to be “suspicious” and an exact cause has not been determined yet. Fire marshals were on scene this morning investigating.