A Brooklyn man was arrested for setting a south Bronx warehouse ablaze Wednesday, injuring at least five FDNY members.
The FDNY announced that 36-year-old Amar Faruq was arrested in connection to a three-alarm fire at 551 E. 179th Street, which was started from propane tanks left on the depot’s roof were deliberately ignited.
It was reported by the FDNY that a total of seven seven propane tanks were on the roof of 551 E. 179th Street in the west Bronx Wednesday afternoon.
According to a post on the FDNY Twitter account, smoke is removing much visibility on E.179th Street as ladder units and much more FDNY personnel operated against the flames.
FDNY officials reported that the fire was first called in at 12:10 p.m. and grew to a third alarm over an hour later at 1:19 p.m. with 138 units responding.
Battalion Chief Michael Treanor said that structural and collapse hazards caused the FDNY to pull firefighters out of the warehouse as responding units “proceeded with an exterior attack on the building.”
Treanor also said that either four of five of the propane tanks had collapsed into the building while two others remain on the partially collapsed roof; the tanks are not believed to be a threat.
At this time, two firefighters have been transported to a nearby hospital with minor injuries.
Three other FDNY members have been hospitalized since.
At 3:22 p.m. the FDNY reported that the roof of the warehouse had collapsed in part.
A cause to what started the fire, damage extent, and how many other injuries caused are unknown at this time.
This story first appeared on our sister publication bxtimes.com.
