Glenwood Road Fire Destroys One House, Damages Another, Leaves Five Injured

One home was destroyed and another seriously damaged after a fire broke out early this morning on Glenwood Road.

Five people were taken to Kings County Hospital with minor injuries caused by the blaze, which the FDNY tells us was called in at about 4:45am on Thursday. Emergency vehicles clogged nearby roads, and officials say 168 firefighters responded to the fire, which was finally under control at about 7am.

Neighbors who witnessed the fire say they saw flames initially on the porch of 1312 Glenwood Road, between Argyle and Rugby Roads, which then quickly caught the vinyl siding of the home, which had just undergone an extensive renovation. By 5:30am, the entire house was engulfed, and the neighboring home at 1304 Glenwood, on the corner of Argyle, had also caught on its top floor, with the fire spreading downward. FDNY had to set up two ladders to get the fires under control, at one point using a chainsaw to cut down large branches of a tree so they could better maneuver.

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While it’s still not clear who was injured or what the extent of those injuries is, neighbors report seeing one man and a boy, as well as another girl, taken away in an ambulance, though they said they did not appear to be hurt. The home at 1312 is a two-family house, and neighbors say at least three people were seen escaping; a family with young children lives at 1304.

On the other side of the destroyed home, the couple who lives at 1316 Glenwood woke up to the sound of the fire — the husband says he looked out the window, which overlooks Glenwood, and saw the fire on the porch, then woke his wife, calling 911 as they ran out of their house. As they stood and watched firefighters try to dampen their neighbor’s home, smoke billowed into their own, and they watched in shock, grateful nobody was seriously hurt.

“I don’t think we’ll be living in this house for a while,” she said.

Fire officials say the cause of the blaze is under investigation, though note it is suspicious. This is the second fire that began on a porch in the area this year — just a few blocks away on Avenue H, a fire destroyed another home in March, and the start of that was also said to be on the porch.

The area near Glenwood Road remains smoke-filled hours after the blaze began, and neighbors in the immediate vicinity are reporting seeing brown water from their taps.

UPDATE 11:45am: Everyone in the homes are okay, and any injuries people received treatment for were comparatively minor, including smoke inhalation.

Investigators on the scene currently include members of the FDNY, the NYPD’s Arson and Explosion Squad, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) — though officials tell us the ATF is working in coordination with the other organizations in part because ATF members had been training in the area.

While the cause of the fire has been deemed suspicious, 70th Precinct Detective Dominick Scotto cautions that there’s a difference between “suspicious” and “criminal,” and that they’re investigating a number of possible causes.

We’re looking into ways that neighbors may be able to help those families who were affected — if you know of anything, please contact us at editor@ditmasparkcorner.com.