Earlier today, a three-alarm blaze engulfed Savon Shoes and upstairs apartments on 13th Avenue at 39th Street in Brooklyn's Borough Park neighborhood. The fire, which started around 2 a.m., caused no injuries but forced residents to quickly evacuate their homes. According to ABC7 New York, the fire displaced twenty individuals, including fifteen adults and five children, alongside five cats and two birds.
Firefighters were quickly to arrive on the scene, where they encountered thick smoke emanating from the mixed-use building. Some occupants reported smelling gas and hearing an explosion right before the fire erupted. "The building lacked windows for ventilation purposes, making the fire tougher for our members to fight," FDNY Assistant Chief Kevin Brennan was quoted in Brooklyn Paper. This lack of ventilation posed a particular challenge for the fire department, which had to navigate through the dense smoke and flames spreading to the second floor through void spaces within the structure.
Over 125 firefighters and personnel worked to bring the fire under control, deploying six hose lines and conducting thorough searches throughout the building. Despite the difficulty and the heavy smoke, which one resident described to Brooklyn Paper as so dense "You couldn’t see the block, that’s how heavy the smoke was," firefighters declared the fire under control by 3:45 a.m. The American Red Cross was present to assist the twelve residents that were displaced, observed offering aid to a family holding their dog amidst the chaos.
The cause of the fire is currently under investigation by FDNY Fire Marshals. The Department of Buildings (DOB) Emergency Response Team was set to assess the structure's stability post-fire. Furthermore, it was revealed by a statement obtained by Brooklyn Paper that the building has faced previous scrutiny, with five open violations regarding failures to file periodic boiler inspections on record. The full extent of the damage remains to be evaluated, and the investigation is ongoing to determine the exact cause of the fire.
