More than a dozen people in Brooklyn are waking up without a home after a large fire tore through two apartment buildings on Ocean Parkway. The blaze broke out last night and forced families out into the street. Emergency crews and aid workers remained at the scene into the morning as residents tried to take stock of what they had lost.
The fire involved two adjacent buildings, numbered 188 and 184 Ocean Parkway, in the Kensington area of Brooklyn. Debris was left scattered across the front of the property. Posted on the front doors of both buildings were full vacate orders from the Department of Buildings, meaning the structures have been declared unsafe to live in.
Video from the scene showed flames and heavy smoke pouring from the top of the building just after six o'clock in the evening. Ladder trucks reached up and through the roof in an effort to knock down the fire. It was a large and busy response, with firefighters working at height to reach the source of the flames.
According to crews at the scene, the fire was burning in the cockloft, the space just below the roof. From there it spread from the first building into the neighboring structure at 184 Ocean Parkway. That spread is part of why both buildings ended up sealed under vacate orders.
Firefighters spent hours working to bring the flames under control. Despite the size of the fire, the volume of smoke and the scale of the response, no injuries were reported. For a fire that consumed the upper floors of two occupied buildings, that outcome offered at least some relief to those affected.
The American Red Cross said it is now assisting six families who were forced out of their homes. Among those receiving help are three children, who are being provided with emergency assistance and temporary housing. The displaced residents face an uncertain road back, with their buildings closed off as unsafe.
Fire marshals are now working to determine the exact cause of the blaze. For now, the focus remains on supporting the families who lost their homes and on keeping people away from the damaged buildings. Residents were left to wait for answers as the investigation got underway.