14 firefighters, 3 residents hurt in 5-alarm Brooklyn fire
WILLIAMSBURG, Brooklyn (WABC) -- At least 17 people were hurt when a five-alarm fire tore through a building in Brooklyn early Friday.
The flames broke out in the mixed-use building on Union Avenue in Williamsburg around 5:30 a.m.
The three-story building could be seen burning with smoke pluming right next to the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway from NewsCopter7.
A deli appeared to be on the first floor, with apartments on the second and third floors.
"We had pockets of fire throughout the whole building, which is taxing," FDNY Battalion Chief Christopher Gaby said. "It takes a lot of resources, we have a lot of opening up to do. Basically, the ladder companies have to open up the walls, check for extension. We have to have hose lines for the engine companies on every floor of basically both buildings. So that's basically what was going on. But like I said, the main fire started, it looks like, in the deli."
Heavy damage was reported on all three floors of the building.
Fourteen firefighters and three residents were treated for minor injuries.
The firefighters were mostly treated for exposure to heat.
"Hot days like today, we use a lot of additional units," Gaby said. "We burn through units quickly, and we had five basically in two buildings."
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
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