A woman was killed and three other people injured Saturday when a home exploded in Brooklyn, fire officials said.
FDNY Commissioner Daniel Nigro said the female victim was found in the stairwell of the building, located at 4206 13th Ave. in Borough Park.
Councilman Brad Lander said the woman who died was in her 60s and was living in a third-floor apartment.
Nigro said the victim has not yet been identified by police because fire crews are still working to make the building safe to enter.
More than 200 firefighters were at the scene of the 4-alarm fire.
“The fire is under control, it’s not spreading,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio.
Nigro said the three other people injured were a 27-year-old man, a 33-year-old father and his 10-year-old son. He said they were walking right in front of the building when it exploded and were injured by flying debris.
One of the men is in critical condition, while the other man and boy suffered minor injuries, officials said.
Authorities said one person who lives in the building is unaccounted for, but stressed that they are not sure if they were home or somewhere else entirely.
“We cannot confirm their whereabouts,” de Blasio said.
Five firefighters were also injured while battling the blaze, which is expected to smolder through the evening, officials said.
Authorities said 911 calls about the fire came in just after 1 p.m.
Witnesses told WCBS 880’s John Metaxas they heard a blast and looked up to see the facade of the building blown away. The top two floors of the building were left gaping open.
“I just felt everything shaking like an earthquake and me and my dad ran to the window, and we look out the window and just saw the whole building is gone,” Adam told 1010 WINS’ Carol D’Auria.
Smoke from the fire could be seen billowing into the air from blocks away.
Bridget, who works at a Payless ShoeSource two blocks away from the fire, said the store smelled of smoke.
“We smelled smoke and then we see people running outside,” she told 1010 WINS. “We could smell it in the store and in the backroom.”
Firefighters worked to contain the blaze, only to see smoke start billowing out of the building next door, Metaxas reported.
After working on that building for about an hour, it also looks to be heavily damaged, Metaxas reported.
When asked if there was a chance the building that exploded may collapse, fire officials said yes.
“There is always a possibility of building collapse,” said one fire official.
Authorities said the blast happened while changing out a stove in the second floor apartment.
Commissioner Nigro said there were no reports of odors of gas prior to the explosion.
“Today, the first call that we received was that there was an explosion,” he said.
De Blasio said after the gas explosion in East Harlem, the city has been emphasizing to residents that any time you smell gas, do not hesitate to call 911.
“Better safe, than sorry,” the mayor added.
In our state when we smell gas, we call an emergency number at the gas company; do they have that in New York; it seems like they might respond faster
on the MTA trains what do they say if you see something say something when you’re in the street you do the same thing if you see something that you say something it’s better be safe than sorry