The Staten Island Advance reports that "more than 5,000 firefighters lined" the street before the funeral for FDNY Lieutenant Robert Ryan. Ryan, who suffered serious burns while battling a 2006 fire but still returned to work, died on Sunday at age 46 while responding to a house fire on Staten Island. His wife Kathleen told the firefighters in attendance, "As much as you loved him, he loved you. The job was his life, and you......

The bravery and dedication of Fire Lieutenant Robert Ryan are remembered as his funeral arrangements are set for this week. Ryan, a 17-year FDNY vet who worked in Brooklyn, Manhattan and Staten Island, died in a Staten Island fire yesterday morning. Ryan was inside a house in New Brighton when the second floor collapsed onto him; his helmet and air mask were knocked off. The FDNY believes the fire was not suspicious and was started......

Around 11 a.m. yesterday, a fire broke out at 37-01 31st Street in Astoria and turned into a four-alarm blaze. According to NY1, "Fire officials say combustible materials in the building, such as paints and wood, created an explosion and the second floor collapsed." A number of workers at Vantage Properties were trapped inside the building. One worker told NY1, "We smelled fire and we opened to escape to go downstairs and fire shot......

After enjoying some NCAA basketball and drinks with a client at an Upper West Side barbecue restaurant one night last March, 31-year-old Lauren Sclafani was getting ready to leave when she was suddenly engulfed in flames. As "Great Balls of Fire" played on the jukebox, the bartender at Brother Jimmy's BBQ allegedly poured 151-proof Bacardi rum across the bar and lit it on fire. Which is usually harmless fun, except this time the flame blew......

Yesterday afternoon, a gas tanker overturned and exploded on the NJ Turnpike near the Meadowlands. Authorities believe the tanker failed to negotiate the curve on a ramp; heavy smoke could be see for miles. Two good Samaritans driving behind the truck helped smother the flames. One, Angelia Mercado, used her coat to bundle up truck driver Rajinder Singh and drove him to a hospital in Newark (she also said Singh gave her phone numbers of......

Yesterday's three-alarm fire at a Bronx strip mall destroyed a number of businesses, including a pet store. According to the Daily News, over "100 frantic birds, reptiles and small animals died trapped in their cages" at Stephanie and Amanda's Pet Center. Joel Rivera, the store's manager, said of his cousin, who owns the store, "He just couldn't stay and watch what was happening." Rivera added that firefighters helped save "parrots, parakeets, rabbits, guinea pigs, lizards......

Fox 5 reports that over 140 firefighters are working to put out a three-alarm fire at a Bronx strip mall. Apparently the fire started at Urrego Alba Cleaners at 1105 Southern Boulevard and spread to other stores. Due to the FDNY activity, the 2 and 5 trains are suspended in both directions from 149th Street-3rd Avenue to East 180th Street, bypassing Jackson Avenue, Prospect Avenue, Intervale Avenue, Simpson Street, Freeman Street, East 174th Street, West......

Earlier this morning, the Fire Department responded to a fire at 474 Greene Avenue in Brooklyn. Brownstoner has some more details, as a neighbor explains many residents have been concerned about the brownstone, "a well known crack house that has been in operation for at least 3 years," even trying to work with the Brooklyn DA's office, NYPD and community leaders "to no avail." The neighbor says there had been a late night party and......

Early this morning, WABC 7 reports that a "suspicious" two-alarm fire "tore through six businesses" in Queens this morning--in the Flushing section, on Roosevelt Avenue near Main Street. Heavy winds may have also helped spread the fire, which firefighters reportedly tried to battle from the inside of the stores (three suffered minor injuries). Additionally, "water used battling the blaze collected on the track of the nearby No. 7 subway line," which has caused some delays......

Last night, a three-alarm fire ripped through a building at Elizabeth Street near Spring in Nolita. The fire started in Acela Dejesu's sixth floor apartment. According to the Post, when she returned home from shopping, she opened the door and "was met with a wall of flame"; she told the paper, "I had no idea how it happened." The Daily News describes how the the building, a "walk-up home to a mix of old-world immigrants,......

A woman was found dead in a Roosevelt Island apartment building after firefighters responded to a call around 5:45 a.m. this morning. The woman was in an apartment on the 11th floor of a 19-story building on Main Street. WABC reports that the building is a senior citizen center and that the victim was in her seventies. No foul play is suspected and the cause of the fire is still under investigation.......

Fire officials said that the fire on West 18th Street that took the lives of five family members was caused by a "juvenile playing with a lighter or matches." The lone survivor, a 10-year-old boy, is in "dire condition," according to the Post. Fire officials have also been urging New Yorkers to check their smoke detectors and make sure they have batteries and are working (landlords are required to install them in apartment buildings, but......

Fire officials say a smoke detector had been unplugged and its battery removed in the Brooklyn apartment where a fire left a 33-year-old man and his 12-year-old nephew dead early yesterday morning. It was second fatal fire from the weekend, after a fire in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood claimed the lives of five family members. Guyanese immigrants Shawn Monderson and nephew Ceimon Fraser had just moved into the apartment last week, because it was closer to......

Photograph of 401 West 18th Street in Manhattan, where a fatal fire claimed five lives, by David Karp/AP Fire officials say that the smoke detector in a 6th floor Chelsea apartment that claimed five lives yesterday morning had been unplugged. The Daily News reports that the "smoke detector did not go off. The battery had been removed and the wires disconnected." A family of six had been living in the apartment: Parents with three......

For the second time in as many days, a residential fire took the lives of New Yorkers, this one taking place in Bushwick. A 33-year-old man and a twelve-year-old boy perished in the fire that broke out in a three-story house just after midnight. EMTs had rushed both to Wyckoff Hospital where they were pronounced dead. It is not clear yet if the two were related or not. Yesterday a fire on the sixth floor......

Six people, including three children, were rushed to the hospital after a fire broke out just after dawn in Chelsea. WCBS is reporting that the victims have died--other sources only list them as injured at this point. The fire started on the sixth floor of a housing complex on 18th Street at 9th Avenue. There is no word yet as to what caused it. Firefighters were forced to shatter windows in the building and were......

Reader Anthony just sent in this image from Cookshop, on the corner of 10th Avenue and 20th Street, saying that "diners with plates in hand abandoned their al fresco dining as thick black choking smoke headed towards the Cookshop." No word yet on whether they returned to settle their bills.......

Rapper 50 Cent has finally broken his silence regarding the fire at his Dix Hills home, which he was allowing his son and ex-girlfriend, Shaniqua Tompkins, to live in. The NY Post reports that after all these months, 50 Cent has finally met with investigators. This follows an ABC News report on the saga, which began with the fire on May 30th. FIre officials say it's standard to meet with the owner of the home,......

A hot dog cart burst into flames on the Upper East Side yesterday morning, burning up the awning of a Ralph Lauren store, the Post reports. The fire may have been caused by a frayed hose connecting the tank and the cooking area. But we can't rule out foul play from militant vegetarians! Cart worker Alla Ali, 50, tells the Post, "I turned on the hose and lit the fire and 'Boom!' It's hard to......

During an early morning fire on East 93rd Street between 2nd and 3rd Avenues yesterday, an elderly wheelchair-bound woman and her son died. The victims, 89-year-old Anna Roberts and 65-year-old retired postal worker William Roberts, were longtime residents in an rent-controlled unit; a neighbor, who escaped by going to the roof and climbing to another building's roof, told the Post, "I had a hard time getting out, so I could imagine they had a real......

Last night around 10 p.m., a fire broke out in a row of stores in East Tremont and grew to be a huge five-alarm blaze. More than 200 firefighters worked to put it out by 1 a.m. No civilians were hurt, but a few firefighters were injured. It's unclear what caused the fire.......

A fire at an apartment building on Lincoln Road grew to 6 alarms, requiring about 250 firefighters to help put it out. First reported just before 6 p.m., the fire broke out "in the space between the building's roof and the ceiling of the top floor." Firefighters had to cut holes in the roof to let smoke escape, and the top floor appeared to be completely destroyed. Residents were given shelter at a nearby school;......

Yesterday afternoon, an apparently gas explosion caused a fireball and shook a Flushing apartment building. The fire injured 17 people, including a 2-year-old and her father were were critically injured. A resident told the NY Times, “I saw the man, who was burnt from head to toe. His clothes were burnt and he was screaming, and he said, ‘Save my baby!’” The man was identified as Edgar Zalbumbide, who lost 75% of his skin. The......

A reader has just sent word that a "van just exploded into a fireball, a door flew off and hit a cop car. No one was inside." The tipster, who emailed this photo, tells us this is happened on 38th Street and Lexington Avenue. When pressed for more details, he replied, "I got nothing to offer man. Here's to Fridays! Have a good one." More on this as it comes in, but last year, cabs......

Doormen noticed a townhouse on West 73rd Street was on fire and ran across the street to alert the residents. WCBS 2 reports that one resident is grateful, noting how the room she was just in exploded soon after. Eight firefighters and one civilian had minor injuries and it's unclear what caused the blaze. Another resident, whose belongings were destroyed and cat was killed, suspects it's the wiring, saying the building's landlord/owner "refused to fix......

The Fire Department says Tuesday night's two-alarm fire that left a man and a 6-year-old child dead and others injured was caused by someone using rubbing alcohol near a candle--the candle ignited the alcohol's fumes. Here are the FDNY's fire safety tips, which also include some tips for the summer.......

A two-alarm fire broke out at a 6-floor apartment building on West 148th Street and Riverside Drive around 8:40 p.m., and a man and a 5- or 6-year-old boy died after jumping from the sixth floor. The man, believed to be the boy's godfather, was pronounced dead at the scene while the boy apparently went into cardiac arrest and died at Columbia-Presbyterian Hospital. FDNY Deputy Assistant Chief John Scudnik said they couldn't get to the......

Authorities believe 5-year-old Jay "Tito" Morales set fire to his grandmother's apartment in an act of revenge, because she wouldn't let him go to the park. Now the child is in critical condition after suffering third-degree burns over 70-90% of his body. Morales' grandmother Nancy Herrera often baby-sat him in her Bushwick home on Knickerbocker Avenue. Described as strict, Herrera apparently punished Jay after a stunt where he called 911 and said she had died--only......

Yesterday morning, firefighter Eddie Bohan was driving on the Northern State Parkway on his day off when he saw an SUV on fire. Bohan broke into the car and pulled out the driver, 58-year-old John Collymore, who had crashed into a lightpole. The firefighter, assigned to Engine 44 on the UES, first tried to his elbow to break into the vehicle, but ended up taking a metal mile marker to smash the glass. Collymore's daughter......

An early morning two-alarm fire in an apartment building at 1001 Ocean Avenue (near Newkirk) in Brooklyn injured several residents. WABC 7 reports seven members of the same family were seriously injured--two children suffered first- and second-degree burns--and a "pregnant woman and a 56-year-old man" jumped from the second floor. Some firefighters were also injured in the blaze.......