Firefighters battled two five-alarm fires — and record setting temperatures that broke 100º in Queens — on Wednesday, July 7.
The first fire occurred in on the sixth floor of a Rego Park apartment building and lasted more than two hours, though no serious injuries were reported.
The second of the two blazes broke out on the top floor of the Belshire Manor at 23rd Avenue and Bell Boulevard in Bayside just before 3 p.m. Almost 200 firefighters were called to the scene, bringing the fire under control in about two hours.
The blaze destroyed four apartments and partially collapsed the roof at the far end of the building.
According to Deputy Assistant Chief John Sudnik, 15 firefighters and seven civilians were taken to area hospitals with heat exhaustion and smoke inhalation. The fire, he said, started on the top floor and quickly spread between the roof and the ceiling.
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.”
City Councilmember Dan Halloran said that his office received a mass casualty report at around 3 p.m., and that “thankfully, no one was seriously injured.”
“This is a very tight-knit community,” said 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.”
The cause of both fires is still under investigation.
