A pre-dawn fire tore through the first floor of a Lott Avenue building in Brownsville early Thursday, leaving six people injured and bringing a heavy response from firefighters and EMS crews, authorities said.
FDNY officials said the call came in around 5 a.m. for a fire on the building's first floor. Firefighters moved quickly to knock down the flames while EMS teams evaluated six people at the scene, according to News 12 New York. The outlet reported that no information was immediately available on patient transports or the victims' conditions, and officials have not yet released the identities of those hurt.
As dawn approached, firefighters and investigators remained on the block, starting an initial examination of the building while neighbors looked on.
Where it happened
Lott Avenue cuts through a tightly packed stretch of Brownsville that has seen more than its share of emergencies in recent years. In March 2025, a major blaze at the Brownsville Houses injured more than a dozen people and forced a massive firefighting deployment to get the flames under control, as reported by ABC7. That incident underscored how quickly apartment fires can escalate in the neighborhood, where older buildings and crowded units have repeatedly been flagged in local reporting as complicating factors when flames spread fast.
What investigators will look for
The cause of the Lott Avenue fire has not yet been released. The FDNY's Bureau of Fire Investigation, known as the Fire Marshals, typically handles the cause and origin work on building fires and has law-enforcement authority when arson is suspected, according to FDNY. The agency notes that its Marshals conduct thousands of investigations each year and can refer criminal cases to prosecutors. Officials have not yet said whether Fire Marshals have been assigned to this Lott Avenue incident.
More information on what sparked the fire and on the conditions of the six injured people is expected as the day goes on. This story will be updated as FDNY and city officials release additional details.
