Fire Guts Newly-Renovated Townhouse at 67 Cranberry
A massive blaze that drew over 20 firefighting vehicles to the scene gutted the brick townhouse at 67 Cranberry Street on Saturday morning; the fire is believed to have begun around 9 a.m. and no one was injured. The house had been undergoing a gut renovation as part of its conversion from a two-family to…
A massive blaze that drew over 20 firefighting vehicles to the scene gutted the brick townhouse at 67 Cranberry Street on Saturday morning; the fire is believed to have begun around 9 a.m. and no one was injured. The house had been undergoing a gut renovation as part of its conversion from a two-family to a one-family house since being purchased in November 2007 for $2,800,000.
Fire Guts 67 Cranberry Street [Brooklyn Heights Blog]
Massive Response to Fire on Cranberry Street [McBrooklyn] GMAP
Large photo from Chucktaylor’s Flickr Set via GL; small photo from McBrooklyn.
gowanusadonis- fire increases exponentially. Inside of 3 minutes a fire is life threatening, in 5 minutes it can engulf an entire residence. The biggest danger is smoke- 10 guys without breathing apparatus are in serious danger. even experienced firefighters with full equipment on die from smoke inhalation, as per the Deutsche Bank fire at Ground Zero 2 years ago.
you can see a fire timeline graphic at http://www.nofirecuts.com/html/fire_facts.html if you are interested.
How heartbreaking for the owners.
Re the contractors’ ability to fight the fire, it can spread extremely fast if all the old beams and joists are exposed, or if the contractors are using paint stripper, paint or other flammables. I’d rather the workers get out safely than try to fight the fire in the first place. We are under renovation and have fire extinguishers on every floor but they are more for use to spray your way to an exit than for someone to play hero and try to put out anything larger than a dropped-cigarette smoldering. And doesn’t the FDNY tell you to GET OUT and call 911 if there’s a fire, instead of trying to put it out and possibly spreading it further?
i think its great that the purchase price was inlcuded in this article.
do you guys ever listen to yourselves think?
How is it with 10 guys working in the house, no one could try to contain the fire before it got out of control? no fire extinguisher at a construction site? people says they heard an explosion, right after which the fire moved very quickly. I have no reason to doubt, there was a gas explosion. a worker said there was a welder on the second floor where the fire started – but they (the workers) remained tight-lipped about whether this might have been the cause of the blaze. the fire marshall was especially interested in this alleged explosion. based on how fast the fire moved, in a building that was mostly steel and masonry at this point, there must have been some other source of fuel to cause the blaze to escalate so quickly. after the smoke started billowing from the back of the building the workers from went outside the building and across the street, basically watched the house at 67 cranberry burn. not one of them apparently had a cell phone to call police or fire department or bothered to knock on any neighbors doors to say there was a fire. one of the workers yelled out to call 911… suspicious – you decide.
There’s no reason to assume it’s intentional because of the economy. The materials used in renovating brownstones with all that woodwork will combust and start a fire if not handled properly like if the contractor stores the chemicals and rags in the house and seal it up over the weekend. Or it can be old wiring, old gas light lines in the walls that end up not being sealed off. Just make sure you have a careful, safety conscious contractor.
The insurance fire story sounds dramatic, but is the product of some reckless, over-active imaginations here. The fire started in broad daylight, with the contractor’s crew on site.
Anyway, here’s a link to a Brooklyn Daily Eagle story from October about this project:
http://tinyurl.com/axpg7m
If the owner is a Wall Street type, his or her smartest move in 2007-2008 was to take money out of securities to buy a house in Brooklyn Heights at the height of the RE market, take out a massive fire insurance policy on the house, and then have the house “accidentally” burn down.
FIXED
I don’t think this was an intentional fire. If the owner is a Wall Street type, his or her smartest move in 2007-2008 was to take money out of securities to buy a house in Brooklyn Heights. These little houses are tinder boxes, and with the flammable chemicals used in renovation -including polyuruthane and paint remover, both of which are like gasoline, it isn’t suprising that a fire, once it starts, guts the entire place. I remember the big fire at the Margaret Hotel, during its renovation, not far from this house. That fire was so bad that the entire building had to be demolished. This looks like they will save the shell and rebuild the interior.
My gut tells me this fire was not accidental, but an insurance fire. Owner probably 1) lost job on Wall Street or wherever 2) in debt out his ass 3)had no clue how much a renovation would cost 3)lost big in stock market 4)needs way out of bad financial status 5) bought a book of matches.