Sunset Park, Brooklyn fire leaves 6 dead l Latest details

I'm gonna show you this video that we just got in. It's a breaking news story that we've been following all morning. This is out of Brooklyn in the Sunset Park area. Six people are dead, seven others are hurt. It was a devastating fire that tore through this home. Okay, so here, you see these images? We just got them in. That looks like an e-scooter and an e-bike. Lithium-ion batteries were found at this scene. At this moment, though, we caution the FDNY and Mayor Adams, who both are on the scene, have not blamed either the lithium-ion battery or the bikes at this point for the fire, but certainly they are present, and it is going to be a major part of this investigation. Again, six people dead. This is a fire that tore through a home in Brooklyn overnight. Jessica Formoso is out there this morning. Jessica, it looks like it is still a lot of stuff going on behind you there. Jessica, what's happening? Good morning, Dan. Yeah, this is still a very active scene hours after this fire broke out, which broke out just after 1.30 this morning. Let's pan off so I can show you exactly what's happening here. You can see FDNY still here. They are now removing all the debris from inside that house. This is where initially the fire started, that house that you're looking at there, completely destroyed. This is on 58th Street between 6th and 7th Avenues here in Sunset Park. You've seen the FDNY there with shovels removing all that debris. About an hour ago, that is when we saw them bring out that e-scooter and e-bike from the house. We were initially told that there were lithium ion batteries found in the home. FDNY, when they got to the scene, they were met with heavy fire here. The fire broke out just after 1:30 this morning. It was a fast-moving fire. When firefighters arrived, they say that they were met with heavy fire on all floors of this home, from the basement, first, second floor, and people were trapped inside. We can go to that video, Dan, where you see the flames engulfing this two-story home there. Just intense flames coming out and actually also spread to the two homes next door. Those two homes also suffered some damage. The home to the left there, there's a vacate sign. We know that folks from that home, they had to leave. They are now being assisted by the Red Cross. A total of eight people are getting help from the Red Cross at this hour. Now, When the call came in, there were reports of the hazmat team responding to the scene and they were here because of the lithium ion batteries that were found in the house. However, investigators are still trying to find the cause of the fire. They're not saying that it was a lithium ion battery that caused this fire, but they were found at this home. Also, that e-scooter and e-bike removed just an hour ago. Thank you. Fire officials also tell us that when they arrived here, they found four people still alive, trapped on the first floor. Two of them, they were hanging, holding on to the bars of a window. If you can see, Dan, if we can show those bars from this window next door, these are the windows, very similar, that were... At the at the back of the home where the fire started and the fire officials here on scene told us that there were two people holding on to those bars trying to escape firefighters and EMS personnel that were here about 200 of them that responded. Firefighters were able to cut those bars and. Rescue, four people, two people survived and the other two were taken to the hospital and they died at the hospital. The two that survived remain in the hospital at this hour with minor injuries. We know also that three firefighters suffered minor injuries and sadly six people died. Unclear at this hour, Dan, if those six people are all from the same family, they could not verify that information, but fire officials were on the scene along with Mayor Mamdani. Talking about what took place here this morning, if we can go to that sound to get a little bit more information as to what happened just after 1.30 in the morning here. Good morning, everyone. Early this morning at 1.39 a.m., the FDNY received a call from a neighbor about a fire at 653 58th Street here in Sunset Park in Brooklyn. This was an intense, fast-growing three alarm fire. When firefighters responded to the scene in less than four minutes, they were met by heavy fire in the basement, first and second floors. I am heartbroken to announce that six New Yorkers lost their lives. Four were dead upon FDNY's arrival, while two more passed away at the hospital. All six were adults. Four civilians were also injured, while three firefighters and two police officers suffered minor injuries responding to the call. I would like to ask all of us gathered here today, as well as New Yorkers across our city, to take a moment to pray for the full recovery for those who were injured, and for the families who have lost their loved ones and whose lives have been devastated by this morning's fire. And I would like to thank the FDNY, whose quick response brought this fire under control by 4.28am, and whose professionalism ensured that this tragedy did not consume even more lives. This was a comprehensive response, with 74 units and 231 fire and EMS personnel on the scene. It is still too early for us to determine the cause of this fire. However, as with every fire, the FDNY will conduct a comprehensive investigation. Once that investigation has been finalized, we will share its findings with New Yorkers. This has been a whole-of-government response. In addition to FDNY, NYSEM, NYPD, and OCME are on the scene assisting those impacted and helping this neighborhood recover. Eight New Yorkers were displaced from nearby buildings, all of whom have since been transported to hotels. I want to take a moment to say that I'm thankful to the Red Cross for supporting those who've been displaced. This was a devastating fire. It will take a long time for this neighborhood to mourn the neighbors they lost this morning and to recover from this immense grief. And as they do so, and as we rebuild, the city of New York will be here for them every step of the way. Thank you. And now I would like to ask First Deputy Commissioner Flynn to share a few words. All right, so we're going to hear from the first deputy in just a second, but you heard the mayor there say very much still under investigation. Tyler, I don't know, can we show the video again of the e-bikes after they brought them out? All right, so they brought them out, and you can see them here heavily charred. And... Was this the cause of the catastrophic fire? Was this the part of the reason? That's obviously going to be a major part of the investigation, but certainly it was an extremely intense situation as those FDNY members arrived. So let's hear from the first deputy about what the circumstances were as they arrived on scene. Our units responded in three minutes and 18 seconds to the scene when we first received that call. There was heavy fire that they encountered on arrival. People were trapped. They were able to rescue four people from that building and transport them to local hospitals. Two of those people are still alive. And if not for the heroic efforts of our firefighters and EMS personnel, those people would be deceased as well. So I want to thank them for their effort there. They truly are heroes and did save lives here. We also want to stress our fire safety messaging out there. Always have a plan. Always have a plan for fire. If a fire breaks out, what are you going to do when a fire breaks out in your home? How will you escape? How will you notify everybody else in the house? Always know what to do in the case of a fire. This was a terrible tragedy and hopefully we'll get a cause for you as soon as possible. The fire marshals are on the scene. They are conducting their investigation. Once a cause is available, we will definitely share it with the media. I would like to turn it over now. All right, so that's the first deputy, and obviously this is still very much a part of the investigation. And Jessica, we know that just last week, I believe you were on the scene of another fire in the Bronx. Again, we don't know if the e-bikes, these lithium-ion batteries are to blame here, but certainly they are present on the scene. What can you tell us? I mean, any possible connection, anything along those lines? Yeah, so we know that the fire marshals, they are investigating at this hour the cause of this fire. But we also know that the hazmat team was called right after the first calls came in that a fire broke out at this home. We do know that lithium ion batteries were found and those two e-scooter and an e-bike were pulled out. But investigators are saying it's all under investigation. That Bronx fire last week at the Patterson houses, a lithium ion battery was found there. And that was responsible for that deadly fire that killed three children and a mother. The father did survive. So just sadly to hear that this could possibly, again, could possibly be, but officials are not saying whether that the lithium iron batteries found here are connected to this fire, still under investigation. And we're told by authorities that once they conclude their investigation, they will let us know what the cause was. But I also want to show you here just the scene out here across the... And the amount of people, of neighbors, the community gathering out here watching all this unfold as it's developing. We were trying to see if they knew any of the people that have passed away. A lot of them don't know. And a neighbor right next door, two doors down, told us that he heard fire, fire came out. And that's when he saw the intense flames. He said he didn't see anyone walking out on their own, that two people were pulled out by. by EMS personnel, and he believed the other people were trapped inside. All right, Jessica Formoso, thank you very much. Yeah, it's a huge community response there that we are watching. So, Jessica, we appreciate your reporting this morning.