A terrible fire ripped through homes on 90th Street between 91st and Atlantic Avenues last night. It started about 8 PM at 91-21 90th Street and quickly spread. Fast acting residents who saw the fire alerted neighbors in attached houses, helping them get to safety quicker. The residents of Woodhaven are always ready to assist. The Woodhaven Residents' Block Association will hold their monthly community Town Hall meeting at 12 noon on Saturday (nearby at the American Legion at 91st Street and 89th Avenue). If there is any way the community can help right now, through some sort of collection, we will let you know before the meeting.

Keep an eye on our Facebook Page - or listen to our weekly online radio show this Friday at 10 PM for the latest news.

CLICK HERE FOR HOW YOU CAN DONATE CLOTHING

Many thanks to all of the members of the FDNY, all of the EMS workers, all of the police officers, all the auxiliary officers, all of the volunteers - thank you all for helping contain the situation and making sure it wasn't worse. There were a few injuries - and no fatalities. Houses and belongings can be replaced.  People cannot.

This reminds us very much of the terrible fire back in 2009, on 96th Street (click here for pictures and video). That fire was evoked many times as residents of our community fought to keep Engine 294 open (click here for the 2011 rally). Keep that fire, and this one, in mind the next time you are asked to rally to save a firehouse.

The following pictures were taken last night by Janet Forte, a Director with the Woodhaven Residents' Block Association. 

As you can see, the street was crowded with emergency response units and neighbors.

The smoke was thick -- 

We were very lucky that the winds were much calmer than they were just 24 hours earlier.  Else, this could have been far, far worse.

News of the fire spread quickly via social media. 30 years ago, you might not have heard about this fire until you read the next week's Leader.  These days, you are reading about it and seeing pictures in real-time. Woodhaven resident Erol Bal posted the following video, taken at the scene --

These next pictures were taken this morning. Here we are, around 6:30 AM. The street was blocked off and the NYPD was watching over the scene. 

The row of houses impacted by the fire. These houses are attached - and the attic crawl spaces are connected. Any time you see a fire like this, remember how the city wanted to close down our firehouse.  Speaking of which - both firehouses closest to Woodhaven are celebrating a 100th anniversary this year. 

There were several news vans on the scene, waiting for the morning news shows. 

We stopped over at Burger King 2 blocks away to warm up with a hot cup of tea - and it was really odd watching scenes from the fir on the news. 

Back to 90th Street -- amid scenes of destruction, Jesus was untouched.  

It appears that the fire originated from this house and spread to the others. And this house appeared to have the worst damage.

Each house had a vacate order on the door and police tape.  It was so very sad to see our neighbor's homes so badly damaged like this.

You can see that the fire moved from house to house -- and that most of the damage to the other houses was up high, near the roof.

Looking at the damage, from the street, it became somewhat clear that the fire started in the one house and moved to the others through the attics.

Despite a raging fire nearby, this tree does not appear to be damaged at all.

Although you can replace items, it's still a horrendous loss to lose your stuff all at once like this. 

Hopefully, homeowners will be allowed back inside to collect anything else - the police are guarding the houses until they are let back in.

Another shot of the damage to the roof.

The residents who banged on doors and alerted neighbors deserve a lot of praise.

The house where the fire started sustained the greatest amount of damage - both to the house and to material inside.

The fire spread to houses on either side of it. 

A mattress completely burned through. One of the articles mentioned reports that the fire may have been started by a lit cigarette.  We do not know it that is true. Wasn't that the cause of the 96th Street Fire?

The sun rises again over Woodhaven, the start of a new day. Keep an eye out for further updates --

For over half a 

Bookmark and Share

Return to Project Woodhaven's Home Page