Brighton Beach residents watched thick black smoke roll across the neighborhood on Saturday as firefighters battled a stubborn blaze in a vacant building, and then watched their lights cut out too. Videos and eyewitness accounts showed FDNY crews racing to contain the fire while nearby blocks went dim amid reports of flickering lights and downed wires.
Video shows firefighters swarmed by flames and smoke
Footage captured by CBS New York shows firefighters working through heavy flames and thick smoke pouring from the roof of an empty structure that the station identified as vacant. FDNY units could be seen hosing down street-level flames while crews checked whether electrical equipment had been scorched in the chaos. As that unfolded, power problems rippled through surrounding blocks, with residents reporting sudden outages and lights cutting in and out.
Earlier power-line mess added to neighborhood outages
The fire hit a neighborhood that was already on edge about its overhead wiring. Earlier in the week, a truck reportedly snagged overhead lines on Banner Avenue near East 12th Street, yanking down poles and sparking flames. The incident knocked out electricity to about 19 homes, neighbors told News 12. Con Edison confirmed that crews were sent out after the vehicle was reported to have hooked the lines. Residents said the string of problems underscored just how exposed the area’s aboveground electrical system can be…