A two-alarm fire tore through a home on Vanderbilt Street in Prospect Park Wednesday afternoon, injuring one firefighter before crews managed to knock it down. Citizen video captured heavy flames and thick smoke pouring from the top of the house as the blaze engulfed the structure.
The fire broke out at 525 Vanderbilt St., between 18th Street and Prospect Avenue, according to News12 Brooklyn. It escalated to a second alarm as crews worked to bring it under control, and officials said one firefighter suffered a minor injury while battling the flames. No additional injuries were reported, officials said.
Firefighters managed to extinguish the blaze just before 3 p.m., per the outlet's report. The cause of the fire remains under investigation, and no further details on the home's occupants or the extent of the damage have been released.
A Pattern of Recent Brooklyn and Queens Fires
Wednesday's fire comes amid a string of other serious residential blazes across the boroughs in recent weeks. A fire at a Sunset Park home last month also escalated to a second alarm, breaking out in the basement before pushing up toward the roof, according to Hoodline's earlier coverage. That fire left one victim with minor injuries who was treated at the scene by EMS.
Just this week, an apartment fire in Elmhurst injured a firefighter and two civilians early Tuesday morning, Nov. 3, according to qns.com. Twenty-one units and 79 firefighters and EMS personnel responded to that scene. Over Halloween weekend, more than 100 firefighters battled a two-alarm fire at a longtime-vacant house in Queens, as reported by amNewYork, which left two firefighters injured and transported to local hospitals for evaluation. The FDNY Fire Marshal's Office was still investigating that fire, with no cause determined as of that report.
Investigation Ongoing
As with the Queens and Elmhurst incidents, the cause behind Wednesday's Prospect Park fire has not yet been determined. Neighbors on Vanderbilt Street watched as smoke billowed from the home before firefighters brought the flames under control in the early afternoon.
