Manhole Fire Engulfs Subaru SUV, Spreads to Apartment Building, Leaving Residents Displaced and Property Destroyed

A Thanksgiving Day electrical fire began in a manhole on a Brooklyn street and swiftly devoured a vehicle parked above it, causing flames to explode in a fourth-floor apartment in a nearby building, FDNY authorities said Thursday.

The two-alarm fire started at midday in a manhole on Remsen St. near Hicks St. in Brooklyn Heights and destroyed a silver Subaru SUV parked nearby, according to FDNY Deputy Chief Stephen Corcoran.

“We were in the process of suppressing the flames beneath the car and also checking the surrounding properties for carbon monoxide or any extension into the buildings,” Corcoran told reporters when he arrived. “At that point fire broke out on the fourth floor of (a) building.”

The FDNY said that 25 units responded to the 12:05 p.m. incident, with 106 fire and EMS personnel on the site.

There were no injuries recorded. Three hours later, activities were still ongoing, and the source of the initial electrical fire had yet to be identified.

“The cause of the fire in the building, which we’re assuming is correlated to the electrical fire in the street, is still under investigation,” Corcoran said reporters.

According to Corcoran, electrical fires are particularly difficult to extinguish, and firemen had to wait for Con Edison to arrive and turn off the building’s electricity. The fourth-floor unit had extensive fire damage, and the occupants were unable to return on Thursday.

Three buildings were evacuated, one due to a fire and two due to elevated levels of carbon monoxide. “We are going to remain on the scene until those carbon monoxide levels are reduced to zero,” said Corcoran, adding that once the levels were safe, residents may return to the buildings unharmed by the fire.

While the fire destroyed dozens of homeowners’ Thanksgiving plans, at least one family forced to escape had reason to be thankful.

“It’s an extremely distressing situation but especially on a holiday like Thanksgiving,” Corcoran told reporters. “We were able to go in and save their Thanksgiving dinner and pack up their food for them and give it them so they could take it to a relative’s house and enjoy it there.”