A small fire damaged the roof and fifth floor of a historic Old Fulton Street building in Brooklyn this Tuesday afternoon, fire officials said.
First responders were called to 8 Old Fulton St. in Brooklyn Heights across from Brooklyn Bridge Park at about 12:30 p.m. on Feb. 24, where they found smoke coming from the the rooftop decking of the five-story building.
Firefighters were able to contain the all-hands fire to the roof and to the ceiling of the fifth-floor apartment, officials said.
A huge traffic snarl ensued on Front Street at Old Fulton Street, making it difficult for large trucks and buses to extricate themselves from the back up from a mass of fire trucks assembled in front of the building.
The blaze was brought under control within about 20 minutes and no injuries were reported, and its cause remains under investigation. Fire officials say there may have been a gathering on the roof of the building and its possible that a cigarette was put out in dirt on the roof.
Fire officials cautioned that the dirt may in fact have been fertilizer or mulch, both of which are flammable.
The structure, called the Brooklyn City Railroad Building, was constructed in 1860 as the office for that company, one of the first large scale transit operators in the city. It was converted to residential use in 1975 and sports views of the Brooklyn Bridge and Manhattan skylines.
The building was declared a landmark by the Landmarks Preservation Commission in 2009.
