Fire At 474 Stratford Road Under Investigation As “Suspicious,” FDNY Says

The fire that consumed a wooden house on Stratford Road is being treated as “suspicious”.

The two-alarm fire that destroyed 474 Stratford Road, located between Dorchester Road and Ditmas Avenue, on March 23rd is now under investigation as “incendiary,” or suspicious, a spokesman for the FDNY told us today.

The three-story house was built in 1899.

The FDNY would not provide specific reasons as to why the fire is being treated as suspicious, but they noted that pieces of information gathered in their investigation so far are “out of sync.”

Over 100 firefighters battled the blaze, which occurred next to a daycare center, and could be seen from Coney Island Avenue. Six firefighters were treated for minor injuries incurred during the fire.

Questions are mounting about the March fire. Last week we reported that the wreckage of 474 Stratford Road was torn down without the required permits from the City’s Department of Buildings. Workers employed by Xolle LLC, a general contracting company located on Flatbush Avenue, began to clear the remains of the building the morning after the fire.

The FDNY did not say today when their investigation would be completed.

One open question seems to be whether two separate fires broke out at 474 Stratford Road on March 23rd. The FDNY stated to us on the day of the fire that it was called in at 12:42pm, and contained at 2:31pm.

Neighbors allege that an earlier fire broke out at 474 Stratford Road on the morning of March 23rd, which the FDNY quelled. The FDNY did not confirm that they responded to two separate fires but told us today that they arrived at the scene around 11am, and were there for several hours.