QUEENS, NY - Queens firefighters were called out to a report of a top-floor fire in a six-story occupied by multiple dwellings at 12:30 P.M. on December 20, 2023. First-due companies encountered heavy fire and smoke conditions showing from several apartments on the top floor. Battalion 49 quickly transmitted a second-alarm, followed by subsequent alarms up to the fifth-alarm, with numerous special calls on top. 

FDNY Fire Marshals determined the fire to have started in Apt. 6M. A contractor was using a torch to heat lead paint off a metal closet door frame in the vacant apartment when they noticed smoke coming from the door frame. The New York Chapter of the American Red Cross registered 70 families, 142 adults and 27 children. Approximately 34 displaced families were sheltered in an area hotel.