Massive supermarket fire in Brooklyn spreads to multiple homes

NEW YORK -- A massive fire in Bushwick, Brooklyn spread to multiple buildings Wednesday evening , sending smoke billowing into the air for hours.

Fire breaks out at Bushwick, Brooklyn supermarket

FDNY officials say firefighters responded to a call for a "raging fire" at a supermarket on the corner of Bushwick Avenue and Cooper Street just before 6 p.m. When they arrived on the scene, they found flames already spreading to neighboring buildings.

The fire quickly grew to five alarms with over 250 firefighters on the scene.

FDNY Assistant Chief Tom Currao says the main fire started in the supermarket and spread into two adjoining wood-frame homes, then spread down Cooper Street into at least two other wood-frame homes.

"This fire impacts this community. Not only a supermarket that they use, but the residents of this community in four different buildings. Our hearts go out to those residents," FDNY First Deputy Commissioner Joseph Pfeifer said.

Late Wednesday night, Currao said there was "still quite a bit of activity going on" and the FDNY is expected to remain on the scene for "quite a while."

The cause of the fire has not yet been determined.

Dozens of residents displaced, several people injured in Brooklyn fire

According to the Red Cross, 40 adults and 15 children have been displaced, along with at least two dogs and one cat.

"At first, I'm just looking for to see where the smell's coming from, so I looked in my bedroom, and I saw a little bit of smoke near my bed, so I knew it was a fire," one displaced resident said. He said he wasn't sure if his two cats made it out.

CBS New York's Naveen Dhaliwal spoke to one child with permission from his father.

"I fell asleep while watching TV, and then my dad wakes me up. He's like, 'Tysean, get up. We have to get out, there's a fire.' And I'm like, 'Fire? Where, where, where?'" Tysean Pershay said. "It hurts. I took my first steps in that building, and now it's just gone."

FDNY Assistant Chief of EMS Operations Cesar Escobar says five firefighters were taken to a local hospital to be treated for minor injuries. A sixth firefighter who also suffered minor injuries and one civilian who suffered smoke inhalation were treated at the scene.