New
York gas blast and fire kill one, injure three
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[October 05, 2015]
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A gas explosion
and fire that ripped off the facade of a three-story building in New
York on Saturday, killing one person and injuring three, might have been
caused by a tenant moving out a stove, fire officials said.
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More than 200 firefighters battled the four-alarm blaze in the
borough of Brooklyn after it was reported to the New York Fire
Department at 1:05 p.m., Mayor Bill de Blasio and Fire Commissioner
Daniel Nigro told a news conference.
Police said first responders found an unidentified woman dead in the
stairwell of the building. Three people on the sidewalk outside, men
aged 34 and 27 and a nine-year-old boy, were also injured, officials
said.
The injured were taken to hospital, one in critical condition, and
the others with minor injuries.
Although severe structural damage had prevented fire officials from
entering the building, Nigro said he thought the fire originated on
the second floor.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2015/Oct/05/images/ads/current/memorial_home_sda_100115.png) "We have some indication that there was a stove exchange for the
tenant. So that’s what we believe was involved."
Nigro said the second-floor tenant had bought a high-end stove and
was moving out of the apartment, a procedure that involved
disconnecting the gas line.
The move had been approved, he added.
The New York fire department would make a full investigation into
the cause of the explosion, de Blasio said.
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In a statement, Governor Andrew Cuomo said he would direct state
authorities to investigate the blast, which he likened to fatal gas
explosions at buildings in Manhattan's East Village and Harlem in
recent years.
Area gas provider National Grid vowed to make the situation safe.
"National Grid ... is working under the direction of the Fire
Department of New York to shut off the gas and make the situation
safe," spokeswoman Karen Young said in an email.
(Reporting by Katie Reilly and Laila Kearney; Editing by Richard
Chang and Clarence Fernandez)
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