Massive fire in Brooklyn heavily damages industrial building in Sunset Park

An industrial building in Brooklyn was destroyed after responders extinguished a five-alarm fire. 

The FDNY said they got reports of the blaze just after midnight Wednesday on 53rd Street and First Avenue in Sunset Park. Officials said the building, which houses Universal Food Distributors, Inc., was fully engulfed in flames when crews arrived.

At one point, flames were seen shooting out from the roof as firefighters worked from the street and ladder trucks to put it out.

Resident Zack Laine said he was on his rooftop and watched the scene unfold.

"The whole sky just lit up in this orange mist, you can say, and then I heard a big boom, and then I heard debris was falling," he said.

"Complete losses" 

Officials said part of the roof collapsed, making conditions more dangerous for crews. The fire also spread to two other neighboring buildings.

"There is extensive, extensive damage to these buildings, just complete losses," said FDNY Chief Kevin Woods.

More than 80 units with about 270 first responders were called in. They fought the blaze from all sides, even using two fire boats from the water.

"We're very close to the water here. At one point, we were using approximately 15,000 gallons a minute of water on this fire," Woods said.

Large scene impacts nearby businesses

"It's completely blocked. Our clients aren't able to come in. We have our contractors that come in every morning ready to pick up material and bring it back to their job site. They couldn't even come in with vans and trucks, we couldn't serve anybody unfortunately," said business owner Sergio Rocha.   

The field manager of Socceroof Sunset Park, which is across the street, said he's concerned about possible damage.

"We heard we had a fire right across the street from us…seems like it's really bad," he said. "We don't know what's going on over there right now, so we're just waiting on that right now."

The chief said there are two minor injuries to firefighters, mainly smoke inhalation. FDNY officials are working to determine the cause of the fire.