Two days after a five-alarm fire destroyed four apartments in Bayside’s Belshire Manor, a building worker has been arrested and charged with causing the blaze.
Victor Hidalgo, 49, of Flushing, faces charges of reckless endangerment of property, a misdemeanor, after his alleged illegal use of a torch on the building’s roof sparked the inferno on Wednesday, July 7 that also partially collapsed the roof at the far end of the building.
The blaze broke out on the top floor of the complex at 23rd Avenue and Bell Boulevard just before 3 p.m. Almost 200 firefighters were called to the scene, bringing the fire under control in about two hours.
According to Deputy Assistant Chief John Sudnik, 15 firefighters and seven civilians were taken to area hospitals with heat exhaustion and smoke inhalation.
Hidalgo remained on the scene, according to the FDNY. He initially denied being on the roof, but later admitted to it.
“This is a very tight-knit community,” said City Councilmember Dan Halloran, who arrived at the scene just after the fire broke out. “We were worried because it is densely populated at this end of the district, but the FDNY is all over this.”
As temperatures broke 100 degrees, firefighters also battled another five-alarm fire on Wednesday.
It occurred in on the sixth floor of a Rego Park apartment building and lasted more than two hours, though no serious injuries were reported.
Sudnik said that a number of his firefighters battled both blazes with no break in between. He also said that the extreme heat put enormous stress on the firefighters, contributing to the number of minor injuries.
“It’s a tough day for sure,” said Sudnik. “Two five-alarm fires in one borough in one day, on one of the hottest days of the year; it’s pretty difficult.”
