Three-Hour Battle: FDNY Knocks Down Stubborn Commercial Cockloft Fire in Brooklyn

NYC, NY - Six firefighters sustained minor injuries Saturday evening as more than one hundred FDNY units battled an aggressive four-alarm fire that tore through three adjacent restaurants and triggered a smoke explosion in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn.

At approximately 5:30 p.m. on September 19, the Fire Department of the City of New York responded to emergency calls reporting a structural fire at 135 North 5th Street. First-arriving companies were met with active, heavy fire originating in a commercial restaurant occupancy that was rapidly pushing upward and traveling horizontally through a shared common cockloft into two neighboring dining establishments.

As interior and roof teams worked to cut vent holes, advance attack lines, and pull ceilings to head off the running cockloft blaze, conditions suddenly deteriorated. Roughly 35 minutes into the operation, a violent smoke explosion occurred within the structure. The rapid pressure wave prompted fire commanders to transmit a precautionary Mayday to rapidly account for all operating personnel and verify that no interior members were trapped or incapacitated.

The incident escalated to a fourth alarm, drawing approximately 115 emergency units and several hundred firefighters, paramedics, and support personnel to the dense commercial corridor. Operating hose lines from multiple positions, ladder pipes, and interior handlines, crews worked for nearly three hours to box in the flames and eliminate hidden pockets of fire across all three commercial spaces.

The blaze was officially placed under control shortly before 8:30 p.m. Six firefighters were evaluated and treated for minor injuries sustained during the incident. The cause and point of origin of the fire remain under active investigation by the FDNY Bureau of Fire Investigation.