A two-alarm gas explosion ignited a massive fire and destroyed three homes in New York City.
Authorities received a call about the explosion in Brooklyn’s Gravesend neighbourhood at around 7.15am on Friday as footage posted to the Citizen App showed flames and heavy smoke towering over the affected structures.
More than 100 firefighters responded to the scene and took about two hours to fully extinguish the blaze before searching the rubble for victims.
The home where the explosion originated was unoccupied when it was razed by the blast, and occupants of two neighbouring homes that sustained irreparable damage managed to escape unharmed, officials said at a briefing.
An investigation into the cause of the explosion is ongoing but officials said preliminary signs pointed to natural gas.
One woman living in the area told FOX 5 News she had smelled gas throughout the night.
After the fire was extinguished, a secondary search of the buildings was delayed due to concerns about their structural integrity. Officials said a K-9 unit had been called in to help with the search as residents looked on from the street strewn with debris.
Video appeared to show windows of neighboring homes had been shattered by the blast. Officials said they would be cutting the power to adjacent buildings as they continued working to secure the scene.
The city’s Office of Emergency Management put out warnings about smoke in the area, advising people living nearby to close their windows.
National Grid, the gas supplier for buildings in Brooklyn, said it was sending a team to the scene.
The superintendent of a nearby building, Hajredin Lesevic, said homeowners in the area had reported smelling gas in the past.
“A couple of times we called the gas company,” Mr Lesevic told ABC7. “Apparently, they never found anything wrong.”
Mayor Eric Adams joined fire department officials at the briefing to warn New Yorkers to call 911 if they smell gas.
The FDNY said it had not received any reports about gas smells in the area in the days leading up to the explosion.
