By MES Dispatch staff
The Briefing
• A five-alarm fire engulfed a vacant church and adjoining rectory in the Astoria neighborhood of Queens, New York, injuring six FDNY firefighters.
• The blaze broke out Thursday evening around 6:45 p.m. and rapidly spread between structures, prompting an extensive FDNY response.
• More than 270 fire and EMS personnel responded to battle the fire that was brought under control later that night.
• Parts of the roof collapsed and one firefighter was struck by falling debris; all injuries were reported as non-life-threatening.
QUEENS, NY — Six Fire Department of New York firefighters were injured Thursday while battling a five-alarm blaze that consumed a vacant rectory and spread to an adjacent historic church in the Astoria neighborhood, officials said.
The fire was reported about 6:45 p.m. at the First Reformed Church of Astoria and a nearby vacant residence, both more than a century old, FDNY and local news outlets reported. The flames quickly escalated to a five-alarm assignment, bringing roughly 270 firefighters and emergency medical personnel to the scene.
Crews initially fought the fire from multiple streets, but portions of the roof and structure became unstable, forcing operations to shift to an exterior attack as heavy smoke and fire spread through the complex.
FDNY Chief of Fire Operations Kevin Woods said firefighters faced significant collapse danger as they worked to extinguish the blaze. One member was struck by falling debris, and others suffered injuries such as smoke inhalation; officials described all injuries as non-life-threatening.
Investigators with the FDNY Fire Investigation Unit were expected to begin determining the cause of the fire, which took several hours to bring under control.