Six firefighters hurt as four-alarm blaze rips through a Williamsburg restaurant row

Six firefighters came away with minor injuries and a section of roof gave way Saturday evening, when a four-alarm blaze swept through a Williamsburg building shared by three restaurants, according to the FDNY.

Calls began coming in just before 5:30 p.m. from the stretch of North 5th Street that runs between Berry Street and Bedford Avenue. The fire took hold inside one of the three restaurants before pushing through into the two beside it, fire officials said. All three businesses emptied out, and no customers were inside the building when conditions turned.

Within minutes the block filled with more than 100 firefighters. Roughly 35 minutes into the operation, a smoke explosion tore through the building and a Mayday went out over the radio. No members were trapped.

Roof collapse forced crews out of the Williamsburg building

“We had a localized collapse on the roof at one point,” FDNY Deputy Chief Michele Fitzsimmons said. Firefighters pulled out of the structure and later went back inside to finish the job, she said.

Shortly before 8:30 p.m., the department said the flames had been brought under control. The six injured members went to hospitals for treatment, and EMS officials called the injuries minor and consistent with this kind of firefighting operation. Nobody else was hurt.

Juliette, a 20-year Williamsburg staple, was among the restaurants hit

Juliette, in business on the block for more than two decades, is one of the three tenants in the building. Justin Varga, who lives nearby, described what he saw as the fire broke into the open: “I saw a big cloud of fire basically burst out of Juliette.”

Department of Buildings inspectors came to the scene Saturday night to assess whether the structure remains sound. Fire marshals have not determined what started it, and there is no word yet on how much damage the three restaurants took or when any of them might reopen.