A fire tore through a home in Sunset Park, Brooklyn before dawn Thursday, killing multiple people and injuring others in a three-alarm blaze. Both reports put the death toll at six, though their accounts of the injuries differ.
abc7ny.com reported a death toll of six, saying four people were pronounced dead at the scene and two others died while being transported to the hospital. pix11.com also reported six deaths, along with 13 other people hurt, including three firefighters.
Conflicting Accounts of When and Where the Fire Started
The exact timeline and origin point of the fire are also in dispute across outlets. abc7ny.com reported the fire broke out just before 1:40 a.m. at a home on 58th Street. A CBS New York video report, however, said the fire broke out around 3:30 a.m. inside a two-story home on Seventh Avenue. pix11.com reported the fire broke out in the basement of a two-story residential building on 58th Street between Sixth and Seventh avenues around 1:40 a.m., while abc7ny.com reported that officials said it appeared to start on the second floor.
The broader picture that emerges across reports is one of a fast-moving, intense blaze. pix11.com reported that more than 200 firefighters and first responders were involved and got the fire under control about an hour after it began.
Injuries Ranged From Critical to Minor
abc7ny.com offered a breakdown, reporting that four residents and three firefighters suffered non-life-threatening injuries while another victim was reported to be in critical condition.
pix11.com reported that the American Red Cross was on scene. abc7ny.com reported that the American Red Cross was assisting people left homeless by the blaze with temporary housing.
Lithium-Ion Batteries Found at the Scene
Lithium-ion batteries were found at the scene, abc7ny.com reported, while pix11.com reported that a hazmat team was called. Investigators were working to determine whether a battery played any role in the fire, with the cause remaining under investigation as of that report. Separately, a May 4, 2022, report from BoroPark24 described a different fire earlier that week in a four-story building that housed a scooter repair store, saying e-bike batteries were the culprit.
Part of a Growing Citywide Problem
Lithium-ion battery fires have become an increasingly common hazard across New York City. Gothamist reported that FDNY had investigated 282 such fires so far this year as of late August, resulting in 55 injuries and one death, after 292 battery fires caused 51 injuries and one death across all of 2025. The outlet also reported that officials attributed a two-alarm fire at a Bronx barber shop that injured six people to a lithium-ion battery.
Other recent incidents underscore the pattern. A CBS New York report on a Bronx apartment fire said officials attributed that blaze to an e-scooter's lithium-ion battery charging near the kitchen's front door, in a fire that killed four people; that same report cited fire officials saying lithium-ion batteries had caused 401 fires and six deaths so far that year. News 12 New York separately reported that a fraudulent lithium-ion battery sparked a fire.
The cause of Thursday's fire on 58th Street remained under investigation, according to abc7ny.com, and investigators were working to determine whether a battery played any role in the blaze.
