Queens Village residents displaced by fire try to salvage belongings. Photos show extensive damage
NEW YORK – Families in Queens Village returned to their homes Sunday to save whatever they could one day after a fire ripped through several buildings.
It started around 4 p.m. Saturday, sending enormous plumes of black smoke into the air that could be seen from blocks away. Cell phone video shows flames shooting from the roof of five connected homes on Francis Lewis Boulevard.
Officials said a firewall – a concrete wall extending to the roof – prevented the fire from spreading to even more homes. The flames did extend to a garage, however, and fourteen people, including nearly a dozen firefighters, suffered minor injuries.
The cause of the fire is yet to be determined.
"It was such a normal Saturday morning"
It was a heart-wrenching day for MD Khan and his family as they tired to salvage whatever could from their second-floor fire-ravaged apartment.
"This is my house. I'm going to cry," he said.
His wife, clearly upset, brought out a pile of clothing and some household items – all that was left. Pictures from inside show the extent of the destruction.
"The floors are wet. The ceilings, obviously the firefighters had to rip them out, so like, the floor is just messed up and everything. And as soon as you look at the living room, it's just all black," son Araf Khan said.
Araf Khan said he first noticed the flames on a neighboring home.
"I look out the window. Next door, their balcony is on fire. I just run out the bathroom," he said. "It was such a normal Saturday morning. You wake up and do your own thing, and all of sudden, this fire happens."
Despite the loss of property, the Khans have so much to be thankful for.
"I feel really lucky because I survived such a fire like that, my family and I, we all got out," Araf Khan said.
The Red Cross is helping seven families with housing.