SI Advance

No civilians injured by second fire in the area this week; fire marshals investigating cause

No civilians were hurt in the two-alarm blaze, which broke out around 4 a.m. at 164 Baden Pl., a one-story building under renovation, FDNY officials said. Flames reached as high as 20 feet, engulfing the bungalow and quickly spreading to the sides of houses at 162 and 166 Baden that faced the fire, said Deputy Chief William Tanzosh of Division 8.

The blaze also singed a shed behind 164 Baden, an unoccupied structure behind 168 Baden and a house on Patterson Avenue, which backs Baden, said the chief. Fire marshals are investigating the cause, he said, declining to say where in the structure the fire started.

Early Monday morning, a suspicious blaze raced through two bungalows at 237 and 237A Freeborn St., one of which was unoccupied. No one was injured, although the building where the fire started was heavily damaged.

The Freeborn fire was about three blocks away from Baden. It was not immediately known yesterday whether they are linked.

"I think it's pretty scary," said Yasmin Ammirato, president of the Midland Beach Civic Association. "I just don't think it's by coincidence. Both fires started in vacant bungalows."

SUSPICIOUS FIRES

Over the years, there have been a number of suspicious blazes in the area. Many started in bungalows, separated from their neighbors by only a few feet.

"I'm very concerned. It's getting very close," said Ann Schneider, whose house at 172 Baden was spared.

"It's very upsetting," she said, noting a vacant house, which also was not damaged, sits between her home and the burned buildings.

Late yesterday morning, fire salvagers boarded and covered parts of the damaged premises.

The one-story structure at 164 Baden was a scorched, roofless shell. Visible in the side yard was the gutted husk of a car. A Buildings Department notice pinned on a makeshift plywood fence in front advised the building was in danger of collapsing and ordered it razed.

Tanzosh said the owners were renovating the bungalow and were staying at a hotel when the fire started. He did not identify the owner, although public records show it as the Nancy M. Russo Trust.

Sandra Hernandez, a resident of 162 Baden, talked forlornly with neighbors outside her scorched home. A child's scooter lay in the front yard, along with a strand of Venetian blinds ripped from an inner window. The detritus of burned books and paper littered the foyer.

Speaking through a Spanish interpreter, she said she, her husband and two sons were sleeping when they heard a loud noise. They looked out a window and saw the fire next door spreading to their home. They escaped to the street. Fire, smoke and water damage rendered her one-story frame house a total loss, she said.

'A LOT OF FLAMES'

"There was a lot of flames," said Baden Street resident Wendy Vega, who translated for Ms. Hernandez and witnessed the fire herself.

A man who identified himself as a relative of the residents at 166 Baden said they were too upset to speak to a reporter. The fire-battered left side of the two-story building was covered by a green tarp.

Eugene Votvinnik, who lives across the street, said he was awakened around 4 a.m. by the sound of multiple "pops" or explosions, similar to fire crackers.

"It sounded like an electrical explosion. I looked out the window and saw something flashing. I saw fire," he said, adding he called 911.

Votvinnik said the flames reached the top of the two-story home at 166 Baden and ashes flew across the street as the fire blazed. He said he believed the building at 164 Baden had been under construction for about a week or two.

A Fire Department spokesman said the scene was cleared at about 8:30 a.m., around four and a half hours after the blaze started. Eighteen units and more than 70 firefighters responded, said Tanzosh.

Five firefighters were treated for minor injuries at Staten Island University Hospital, Ocean Breeze, the spokesman said.