Arson Investigators On Scene Of 4-Alarm Fire In Brooklyn

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Arson investigators are trying to determine whether someone intentionally set a fire in Brooklyn that destroyed a recently renovated house and left five people hurt early Thursday morning.

Fire officials are declaring the four-alarm fire at a home on Glenwood Road in Ditmas Park as suspicious.

"It is certainly suspicious," Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro said. "We've been told there was a similar fire somewhere in the neighborhood."

The fire began at the house around 4:45 a.m. and quickly spread to neighboring buildings. Video and photos from the scene showed heavy smoke pouring into the area.

"My boyfriend woke up and screamed 'fire!' and we just threw clothes on and ran outside and dialed 911," said Karin Lieberman, who lives next door, told CBS2's Andrea Grymes.

"I heard the cackling noises and I thought, 'Oh my god, it's raining,' but I looked outside and saw the flames. Never saw anything like it," said neighbor Tzvia Ehrman.

"It's just a shame to see it burned down like this. It's awful," said neighbor Henry Finkel.

Nigro said 170 firefighters spent more than two hours trying to get the fire under control.

"They arrived in three minutes to a wall of fire," Nigro said. "The whole front of this building was in flames."

Four adults and four children inside the home got out on their own, as did their neighbors, Grymes reported.

Nigro believes the fire started at the front of the home, possibly the front porch.

Neighborhood residents said the home had been recently renovated.

"They just bought the house in the beginning of the summer and they've been renovating it for months," a resident named Jimmy told 1010 WINS' Juliet Papa.

A few months ago, Jimmy said there was another early morning fire at a different home a few blocks away that had also been recently renovated.

The FDNY is looking into whether that fire in March may be related. At one point, NYPD arson detectives and ATF police, along with fire marshals, looked for clues in the front porch debris.

The possibility that someone could have intentionally set the fire has left neighbors shaken.

"It's horrifying of course that someone could be so vicious," Lieberman said. "There are no words for that."

Five people, including three children who lived in the house, suffered minor injuries. Five firefighters were also injured.

In:
• Brooklyn
• FDNY