QUEENS — A recent rash of fires in Forest Hills has local residents on edge.
There have been at least four residential fires in the neighborhood in the past 10 days, including two that happened on Tuesday, Nov, 17.
All four fires "are under investigation by FDNY Fire Marshals," fire officials said Wednesday in an email.
Numerous residents took to Twitter to express their concerns.
My imagination or are we suddenly seeing a lot of fires in the past couple weeks? https://t.co/36BPfgNDlC
— Peter W. Beadle (@pwbnyc) November 18, 2015Forest Hills just hit their 5th fire in 1 month & 2nd one just today. Good thing we've got a kick-ass fire dept. https://t.co/UWLchKLzN2
— Kitti★ (@itskitti) November 18, 2015@NYPD112Pct @EwaKJ never heard of fires in Forest Hills. Rude patrons at the local gin mills are the usual menace.
— Alvaro E. Neira (@AlvaroENeira) November 18, 2015FDNY Commissioner Daniel Nigro said Wednesday at an unrelated press conference that the department continues to investigate the recent string of Forest Hills fires.
"It's under investigation, and we'll see," he said. "I think they should be concerned until we finish their investigation to find out."
He also noted that "for the Fire Department, anytime there's large volume of fire upon arrival, we consider it suspicious which only means ... there's no obvious cause."
Local police said that they are also working with the FDNY and other investigative units such as the Arson and Explosion Squad, Detective Bureau and Crime Scene Unit.
We're aware of the recent rash of residential fires in #ForestHills We're coordinating with #FDNY and other investigative authorities
— NYPD 112th Precinct (@NYPD112Pct) November 18, 2015Forest Hills councilwoman Karen Koslowitz said she worried about residents' safety.
"Certainly we are concerned," she said. "They are talking possible arson which is very concerning but the police are on it and hopefully they will get to the culprits that’ve been doing this."
Two of the fires erupted at vacant homes which were under construction, according to fire officials and the Department of Buildings's website.
The first one broke out on Nov. 8 at 68-60 112th St. The flames quickly spread to two nearby homes and their residents had to be evacuated. That incident, officials said, is considered suspicious because of the large volume of flames, although as of Wednesday the cause of the fire was still under investigation.
On Tuesday, Nov. 17, at about 6:30 p.m., flames also erupted at another vacant two-story home, at 108-43 66th Ave., only 7 blocks away from the first incident.
That fire, an FDNY spokesman said Wednesday morning, appears to be non-suspicious but it’s still under investigation.
According to published reports, the fire on 66th Avenue erupted shortly after a construction crew left the site.
No injuries were reported in either of these incidents.
Two fires have also hit occupied buildings. One broke out at 108-13 67th Road on Nov. 10 around 8 p.m. Fire officials said there were no injuries reported in that incident.
On Tuesday, Nov. 17, just before 6 a.m, another fire started in a sixth-floor apartment of 106-15 Queens Blvd. One person was critically injured and another was seriously hurt in the blaze. That fire appears to be non-suspicious but its cause is still under investigation, officials said Wednesday.
