March Fire At 474 Stratford Road Was Not Accidental, Says FDNY

We’re continuing to follow the story of a fire this Spring that tore through a turn-of-the-century house on Stratford Road.

The two-alarm fire that destroyed 474 Stratford Road, located between Dorchester Road and Ditmas Avenue, on March 23rd, “was set,” a spokesman for the FDNY told us yesterday, but the investigation is ongoing.

The three-story, wooden house was built in 1899.

When asked whether the fire at 474 Stratford Road would be considered “arson,” the FDNY would only say that the fire was “not accidental” — implying that the conflagration could have been a planned event, or a spur of the moment act of vandalism.

The FDNY would not give any timeframe for when their investigation would be completed.

It would seem that the investigation would be hampered by the fact that workers employed by a general contracting company located on Flatbush Avenue began to clear the remains of the house the morning after the fire. As we noted in March, the wreckage of 474 Stratford Road was torn down without the required permits from the City’s Department of Buildings.

No one was living at 474 Stratford Road at the time of the fire. According to City records, June R. Thorpe retains a life estate on the house, whose ownership was transferred to other members of the Thorpe family in 2006.

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 during the fire.

Are there other fires in our area that we should be looking into? Please let us know.