A devastating fire in Bushwick on Thursday destroyed a three-family home and most of the belongings of the 10 people who lived there.
The blaze started on the second floor of the building at 38 Lawton St. around 2:15 p.m. Scott Sweeny, a resident, was at his computer in a room at the front of the house when the power suddenly went out.
“I was about to get up and check the time when I heard a smoke detector go off,” Sweeny told Bushwick Daily. “It didn’t worry me much, but while I was checking the time…a second detector started beeping.”
“I opened my door to check it out and the smell hit me immediately,” Sweeny said.
The blaze quickly engulfed the entire back of the home. There were no injuries to the 10 residents in the building; but Sweeny’s cat, Sophocles, passed away and most of the contents in the home were lost to fire, smoke, and water damage. We reached out to FDNY for a comment on the cause of the fire, but we had not received a reply at the time of this article.
Local business owners and community members have created a GoFundMe campaign with a $15,000 goal to help raise money for the victims of the fire. There is also a benefit concert on Friday, March 2 at The Gateway. All door fees and a large portion of all bar proceeds go to help with recovery and moving costs for all 10 residents involved.