Two FDNY Firefighters Injured in Massive Queens Blaze

Two FDNY firefighters were injured battling a massive five-alarm blaze that gutted a Queens business early Sunday.

The fire broke out shortly before 7:30 a.m. inside a one-story dollar store in the borough's Richmond Hill neighborhood, the New York Daily News reports. At least 44 units and 198 firefighters responded to the blaze, which spread quickly and forced the evacuations of nearby buildings.

“Our units initially made a very aggressive push to get in to put the fire out, but there was just too much fire for them to handle on arrival,” said Chief of Department John Sudnik, according to the Daily News. “Commercial fires are very dangerous. There’s a lot of stock in the stores, a lot of combustibles, dangerous conditions for our firefighters. So we pulled them out to a defensive position.”

Crews were able to get the fire under control just before 10 a.m. The blaze injured a civilian, who was taken to Nassau County Medical Center.

Two firefighters were hospitalized battling the fire, according to the Daily News. One firefighter suffered minor injuries, while another firefighter—who was treated and released—was initially said to have had life-threatening injuries, but that was inaccurate, the New York Post reports.