The four-alarm fire in Flushing killed four people and injured civilians and firefighters as investigators examined the damaged property.
FLUSHING, N.Y. — A four-alarm fire tore through a mixed-use building in Flushing on Monday, killing four people, including a young child, injuring residents and firefighters, and forcing a block-long emergency response at a busy Queens intersection.
What began as a midday fire call quickly became one of the city’s deadliest residential blazes of the year. Officials said the fire at College Point Boulevard near Avery Avenue left multiple victims trapped, sent several people to hospitals and displaced residents from two addresses placed under full vacate orders. The immediate challenge for first responders was rescue under collapsing interior conditions. The longer-term question, still unresolved Monday night, was whether the building’s layout, occupancy or prior complaints contributed to how quickly the emergency turned fatal.
Dispatchers received the call just before 12:30 p.m., sending crews to a three-story structure with commercial space at street level and apartments above. The fire intensified fast enough that the response was raised to four alarms, drawing more than 230 fire and EMS personnel. In the confusion, officials said, three people jumped from upper floors to escape the flames. Another person stranded on the second floor was rescued by portable ladder. FDNY Commissioner Lillian Bonsignore said firefighters were met with extreme heat, smoke and a rescue problem that demanded immediate action. A nearby resident, Vivian Marie, said she smelled smoke, came outside and soon saw medics trying to revive severely burned victims on the street as neighbors stood in shock.
The human toll grew over the course of the day. Fire officials first said three people had died, including a 3-year-old boy. Later, police confirmed a fourth victim, an adult man, died while being transported to a hospital. Other victims survived but suffered injuries serious enough to require treatment at multiple hospitals. By Monday evening, police said three patients, a 44-year-old man, 59-year-old man and 67-year-old woman, were in stable condition at Jacobi Hospital. Four others, a 33-year-old man, 39-year-old woman, 40-year-old woman and 51-year-old man, were in stable condition at NewYork-Presbyterian Queens. Six firefighters also were taken to hospitals in stable condition. Two firefighters had to be extricated after an interior stairwell collapsed while crews were moving upward to continue rescues and search operations.
That stair collapse became one of the clearest signs of how dangerous the building had become from the inside. Chief of Fire Operations Kevin Woods said the members were advancing from the first floor toward the second when the stairs gave way and trapped them. They were later pulled out by other responders. Woods also said wind can sharply affect how a fire behaves, and city conditions Monday included gusts above 40 mph in some areas. In a dense neighborhood like Flushing, where residential and commercial uses often sit side by side, a wind-driven fire can spread smoke and heat quickly through stairways, hallways and voids. Investigators had not said Monday whether wind changed the origin area of the fire, but it was part of the operational picture confronting crews as they searched for trapped occupants.
The property now faces scrutiny beyond the fire scene. The Department of Buildings issued a full vacate order for 132-05 Avery Ave. and 44-49 College Point Blvd., and utilities were shut off as inspectors evaluated safety. Officials said there were five apartments in the building. Local reporting cited city complaints about possible illegal subdivisions there dating back more than 10 years. That history did not answer the central questions investigators still must resolve: how many people were living in the building, how units were divided internally, whether exits were clear and code-compliant and whether any prior conditions made evacuation harder once the fire spread. So far, officials have not announced any findings on those points. The American Red Cross had registered one household of four adults for assistance by Monday evening, a reminder that some residents may still be trying to account for relatives, housing and basic needs in the hours after the disaster.
Public officials offered condolences while emphasizing that the inquiry is only beginning. Mayor Zohran Mamdani said the city was mourning four New Yorkers and thanked firefighters and EMS workers who rushed into the building. But the formal next steps are expected to come from investigators rather than elected officials. Fire marshals are working to determine the cause of the blaze. Building inspectors and engineers are expected to continue assessing structural integrity, especially after the stair failure and extensive burn damage. Those reviews could lead to violations, repair orders or other enforcement actions depending on what records and on-site inspections show. They also will shape when displaced residents can safely return, if at all, and whether demolition, major reconstruction or long-term closure becomes necessary.
By nightfall, the block had become quieter, but the signs of the afternoon remained: hoses draped across the street, fire trucks parked near the scorched building and neighbors lingering behind barriers, speaking in low voices about what they had seen. The fire was out, but the story had moved into its next phase, one centered on loss, displacement and documentation. The city’s next update is likely to focus on the cause of the fire, the identities of the dead and what investigators conclude about the building’s condition and use.
Author note: Last updated March 17, 2026.