Massive 7-alarm blaze in Brooklyn could take weeks to put out: officials

Massive 7-alarm blaze in Brooklyn could take weeks to put out: officials

Only one person was injured in the fire, but it took 275 firefighters to get the blaze under control in the trendy Williamsburg neighborhood.

A 7-alarm fire destroyed a warehouse in Brooklyn, creating a massive column of smoke that drifted into Manhattan on a freezing Saturday morning, and it could take weeks for the fire to completely burn itself out.

One person was injured at the scene, where 275 firefighters battled a blaze that engulfed a storage facility in the trendy Williamsburg neighborhood, according to an Associated Press report.

James Leonard, chief of department for the Fire Department of New York, said that the building was a total loss and required a huge amount of water to be brought under control — and even then it was still burning, according to the report.

Firefighters pressed on despite a bitterly cold and windy morning that has hampered operations. Firefighters eventually decided to stay outside the four-story building and let the fire burn out nine hours after it was first reported at 6:28 a.m.

Although firefighters think they have hte blaze contained, it will take “an extensive operation” to protect the other buildings, Leonard said.

The main concern now is flames jumping to another storage warehouse next door.

Firefighters had just put out a small fire on a shelving unit in the building when the call for the blaze came in, and authorities are investigating if the fires are related.

Leonard said the fire would continue to smolder for “quite some time,” and crews may have to keep watch over it for two to three weeks.

Williamsburg has a population of 113,000 and is situated in an area of Brooklyn known for its up-and-coming art and hipster community, and features a diverse mix of ethnicities. It has been going through a process of gentrification in recent years.

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