One of the many tragedies of last night's impact from Sandy in the NYC area was on Breezy Point, located on the Western tip of Long Island, to the Southeast of Coney Island.
A house fire initially broke out around 11pm on Monday evening and spread quickly, engulfing over 50 (some reports indicate 80) homes before all was said and done.
All of this took place amidst incoming storm surge that made it very difficult for firefighters on the scene, not to mention nearly impossible for additional crews to arrive and help with the situation. FDNY says that several fire hydrants in the area were completely submerged in seawater, and it was difficult to get equipment where it needed to be.
The following video from the AP is very dramatic and unedited. Use caution when viewing around younger children (not a language issue, but a very dramatic scene of entire blocks of a residential area going up in flames:
Amazingly, and thankfully, I have not heard of any casualties directly related to this fire. I hope that the light of day today does not change that statistic. This area was 100% within the mandatory evacuation zone, so it is my hope that everyone got out on Sunday when told to do so.
It is unknown exactly how the fire began. This "island jetty" community took a direct hit by storm surge, high incoming wave action and strong winds. It is not uncommon for gas mains to become compromised in such a situation, which can lead to explosions if an ignition source comes into play. We've also see photos and videos all over NYC of transformers exploding and bursting into flames, which could have also played a role.
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