Three-Alarm Roof Fire Engulfs Brooklyn Midwood Restaurant Row, No Injuries Reported

A fast-moving blaze reported around 4:40 p.m. Thursday ripped through the roof of a restaurant at 1021 Avenue H in Midwood, Brooklyn, racing into a connected strip of storefronts and devastating eight small businesses before 63 FDNY units and 192 firefighters and EMS personnel could contain the spread. No injuries were reported, though the fire punched through the rear wall of at least one barbershop while customers were still in the chairs.

The restaurant at 1021 Avenue H, situated between East 10th Street and Coney Island Avenue, shares a rear wall with the businesses fronting the street, a structural detail that gave the fire a direct path into neighboring storefronts. Within minutes of the first report, the incident escalated to a third alarm.

FDNY Chief Jason Warnken described the tactical challenge his crews faced. "The rapid spread of the fire," Warnken said. "Several engine companies had to stretch hose lines into several stores at the same time to try to contain the fire from spreading to neighboring buildings."

Barbershop owner Amjid Ysman had a packed shop when the fire hit. "Yes we was working because tomorrow we have a holiday that's why we had too much client," he said. A customer identified as Shah described the moment the smoke turned to flame: "At first, it was just smoke. We thought it was nothing, it was normal. But then when the flames started coming everybody got us and ran away."

The aftermath across the block reflected the scale of the damage. Clothing store owners picked through wreckage trying to salvage inventory. In one space next door to the barbershop, shattered glass filled chairs where customers had been sitting. An Uzbek community gathered down the block to watch one of their restaurants burn. Workers at a nearby physical therapy clinic filled garbage bags with debris.

Eight small businesses in total were reported devastated by the fire, according to ABC7, with the outlet describing countless livelihoods wiped out. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.