FDNY crews work to contain a massive Easter Sunday fire at 21-33 31st Ave. in Astoria. Photo by Ramy Mahmoud
April 21, 2025 By Lloyd Mitchell & Robert Pozarycki
Firefighters in Astoria spent Easter morning battling a four-alarm fire in the borough’s fourth big blaze this holiday weekend.
FDNY sources said the blaze ignited inside 21-33 31st Ave. just after 9:30 a.m. on Sunday, April 20.
The first responding Fire Department units encountered heavy fire conditions on the first and second floors of the multiple mixed-use buildings. The intense fire sent plumes of smoke into the morning sky.
Firefighters fight the fire from the outside using a tower ladder during a four alarm fire at 21-33 31 Avenue in Astoria, Queens on April 20, 2025.
Photo by Lloyd Mitchell
More than 180 firefighters rushed to the scene to battle the blaze, with most members taking up hose lines from outside the building to pour water on the fire from the outside.
FDNY sources said the blaze ignited inside 21-33 31st Ave. in Astoria just after 9:30 a.m. on April 20. Photo by Lloyd Mitchell
People look on during the four alarm fire at 21-33 31 Avenue in Astoria, Queens on April 20, 2025.Photo by Lloyd Mitchell
“This is absolutely devastating for this community,” said longtime Astoria resident Bill Clark at the scene. “The fire spread rapidly.”
Another long-time Astoria resident, Angel Pena, added, “It was unbelievable how rapidly the fire spread, but it was even crazier how fast the firefighters got here and started working.”
Firefighters brought the blaze under control at about 11:51 a.m. Sunday. FDNY Marshals are now investigating the cause. No serious injuries were reported, though a number of residents were displaced.
FDNY sources said the blaze ignited inside of 21-33 31st Ave. in Astoria just after 9:30 a.m. on April 20. Photo by Lloyd Mitchell
It was the borough’s fourth major fire during the weekend. On Saturday, a Bayside bar went up in flames; hours later, a church in Breezy Point was seriously damaged in a three-alarm inferno.
Early on Easter Sunday morning, three people died in a two-alarm house fire in Jamaica.
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