Photo Essay: Early Morning Fire in Bushwick

Christian Hernandez
Christian Hernandez
2 min readJun 1, 2017

On Saturday, February 18, residents of 1061 Flushing Avenue awoke to the smell of fire. It was 5:30 AM and smoke poured out from the electrical outlets inside the building.

Within five minutes, smoke filled the air, leaving residents no choice but to evacuate into the cold early morning.

Firefighters discovered the source of the smoke — a fire caused by an unattended hookah within NoBull, a lounge located next door to the red-stooped apartment.

Though the fire did not make its way into the building, the aftermath of the incident left the residents’ homes blanketed by the smell of smoke and their walls filled with gaping holes as firefighters checked for signs of flames.

The residents of 1061 Flushing Avenue watched as firefighters arrived in groups to the scene at NoBull. They watched from a distance as the firefighters climbed onto the roof and shattered the window-filled front of the smoking lounge.

When 12-year- old Freddy Almonte Jr. evacuated his building, he ran out into the cold without grabbing his glasses nor a pair of shoes. He looks on with uncertainty from within his father’s car along with his service dog, Rufus.

Firefighters checked the structure of the apartment building for any signs of fire. Though none were found, residents were left with large holes in their homes looking over them. This hole is in the bathroom of Freddy’s apartment.

Personal belongings knocked down from shelves, floors covered in sheetrock and damaged furniture stood out within the residence. Within Freddy’s home, holes covered the living room as well as his own room — making them both inhabitable.

Firefighters began to depart from the scene three hours later. One by one, the trucks left until the street was as it was before the fire occurred.

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