Six firefighters were injured, including one seriously, while fighting a blaze in Queens on Thursday. FDNY officials say the fire broke out around 6:45 p.m. in a vacant, two-story rectory, then spread to a vacant church next door. Both are over 100 years old.
Officials say 84 units and 270 fire and EMS personnel responded to the five-alarm fire. A thick wall of smoke swallowed the neighborhood as the firefighters tried to knock down the raging flames, but the flames were relentless.
Debris rained down on top of New York’s Bravest after part of the roof collapsed. Six firefighters suffered non-life-threatening injuries, including a firefighter who was struck in the head by falling debris from the collapse. He is conscious and alert, and is expected to be OK.
“Once the fire gets into these old churches behind the walls and into the roof space, it’s very difficult to extinguish, and there was major collapse danger to our members,” said FDNY Chief of Fire Operations Kevin Woods.
WABC-TV ABC 7 New York City
