Thick black smoke poured from the roll-down gate of a one-story auto body shop on Cropsey Avenue in Coney Island Monday, September 7, 2026, as firefighters battled a fast-escalating blaze that left five of their own injured. The fire broke out just after 9:30 a.m. inside 3088 Cropsey Avenue and forced crews to call a second alarm within roughly 15 minutes of the initial dispatch.
According to News 12 New York, the five injured firefighters suffered only minor injuries, according to fire officials, and were taken to NYC Health + Hospitals/South Brooklyn Health for evaluation. That Ocean Parkway campus, formerly known as Coney Island Hospital, includes the Ruth Bader Ginsburg Hospital, per NYC Health + Hospitals. Citizen app footage captured during the response showed thick black smoke billowing from the shop, the same report notes.
FDNY crews got the fire under control about 40 minutes after it broke out, per the same account. The cause of the fire was not immediately known.
Dispatch Records Detail the Scramble to a Second Alarm
Dispatch records reviewed by NYCfire.net show Box 3551 was transmitted for the Cropsey Avenue address after a phone alarm reported heavy smoke pushing from the shop's roll-down gate, prompting Engine 318 to transmit an urgent 10-75 working fire signal. Engine 318 and Ladder 166 were listed among the companies responding to the incident.
A second-alarm assignment includes eight engines, four ladders and multiple command and specialty units, according to standard FDNY protocols outlined by FDNewYork.com. That scale of response reflects how quickly conditions can deteriorate once fire takes hold inside a commercial auto shop.
A Longtime Auto Repair Hub on Cropsey Avenue
The supplied PropertyShark record concerns 1617 Neptune Avenue, also identified as 3127-3131 Cropsey Avenue, rather than 3088 Cropsey Avenue. The supplied sources do not establish a business history for 3088 Cropsey Avenue.
Smoke was reported coming from the shop's roll-down gate. The supplied sources do not document the fire-code requirements or materials stored at 3088 Cropsey Avenue.
Part of a Pattern of Multi-Alarm Fires in the Area
Monday's fire adds to a string of serious blazes that have hit Coney Island and nearby South Brooklyn in recent months. Just over a month earlier, on August 1, FDNY crews responded to a Coney Island apartment fire between Surf and Mermaid avenues that left one firefighter with minor injuries and one civilian in serious condition. In May, a fire on Surf Avenue also left one person hurt at a Coney Island high-rise.
The fire itself underscores the hazards firefighters face when an auto-repair blaze breaks out.
