NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – A fire broke out at a house of worship in Brooklyn Tuesday morning.
The fire broke out at around 9 a.m. at B’nai Adath Kol Beth Yisrael on Patchen and Greene Avenues in Bedford-Stuyvesant.
It quickly grew to two alarms.
Two firefighters suffered minor injuries.
A 71-year-old man who had been working on the roof is expected to be charged with reckless endangerment for improper use of a blowtorch, according to police.
Video from the scene showed extensive damage to the roof.
Firefighters told CBS2’s Marc Liverman they expect the building was a total loss.
Investigators were set to determine the cause of the fire. Both Torah scrolls were salvaged by firefighters.
Rabbi Baruch Yehudah told Liverman the building had been there since the 1700s and has been a synagogue since about 1860.
“That is absolutely my intention to rebuild right here on this corner,” Yehudah told Liverman. “If God gives us the strength and the ability, right here on this corner B’Nai Adath will rise again, right here on this corner.”
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Fire burns through roof of Brooklyn synagogue; worker charged, officials say
By Nicole Brown and Lauren Cook nicole.brown@amny.com, lauren.cook@amny.com
November 14, 2017
A worker who was on the roof of a Bed-Stuy synagogue when a fire erupted was charged in connection with the blaze on Tuesday, an NYPD spokesman said.
Caesar Raynor, 71, of Highland Falls, New York, is facing two counts of reckless endangerment after he unintentionally started the fire that burned through the roof of B’nai Adath Kol Beth Yisrael synagogue on Patchen and Greene avenues, according to police and fire officials. The fire, which began around 9:10 a.m., was sparked when Raynor illegally used a propane torch on the flammable roof, the police spokesman said.
More than 100 firefighters battled the blaze, which burned for more than two hours, according to the FDNY. The fire was placed under control at 11:45 a.m.
The synagogue has been home to the B’nai Adath Kol Beth Yisrael congregation since 1967, according to the congregation’s website.
Three firefighters were taken to a hospital with minor injuries, a spokesman said.
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A worker using a blow torch on the roof of a Brooklyn synagogue is responsible for accidentally sparking a raging fire that tore through the house of worship, authorities said.
The torch recovered from the scene. Credit: Paul Martinka The two-alarm blaze started on the roof of Bedford-Stuyvesant’s B’Nai Adath Kol Beth Yisrael synagogue at around 9:10 a.m. and quickly spread to the interior of the building, according to officials.
It took more than 100 firefighters to battle the blaze, which was extinguished by 11:45 a.m., officials said.
No injuries were reported.
FDNY Deputy Chief Kevin Woods of Battalion 11 said at the scene that the fire started when a pair of workers were on the roof of the two-story structure using electrical equipment.
One of those two workers, a 71-year-old man, was taken into custody at the scene and charges of reckless endangerment were pending, cops said.
“In these old houses of worship — synagogues, churches — fire starts very rapidly in the void areas,” Woods said, noting that the building is more than a century old.
He added: “We moved in with an aggressive interior attack. We extinguished a tremendous amount of fire.”
Firefighters managed to retrieve several Torah scrolls from the synagogue.
“They seemed to be in pretty good condition, the scrolls,” Woods said.
The blaze, which damaged the structural integrity of the building, was not believed to be suspicious, officials said.
“This has been a part of my life all my life,” Rabbi Baruch Yehudah who rushed to the Patchen Avenue synagogue, said. Modal Trigger
Paul Martinka He noted that he’s glad the Torah’s were salvaged, but worried about the condition they were in.
“They got them out. I don’t know what the condition of the Torah’s are…The water damage is overwhelming,” said Yehudah, who had his bris done at the synagogue in 1969.
He said members of the synagogue have been frantically calling him all morning.
“[I tell them] ‘God is good, just say your prayers and we’ll know more later,’” Yehudah said.
Congregant Kalelah Cooper called the synagogue “our home,” adding “this is where we come to worship.”
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A 71-year-old man is in custody after police said he set fire to the roof of a historic synagogue in Brooklyn while working there Tuesday morning.
No one was inside the Bnai Adath Kol Beth Yisrael synagogue on Patchen Avenue in Brooklyn-Stuyvesant when the fire broke out, so firefighters focused on rescuing sacred scrolls and Torahs.
Fire officials said two men were working on the roof, one of them using a blow torch, when one of them, Caesar Raynor, allegedly set it on fire. Police have charged Raynor with reckless endangerment.
"There were two men on the roof," said the Rev. Patrick Henry, a pastor at a church down the block who saw the fire break out. "And they were running in, and appears that one came out with a bucket of water to pour on the flames. We began to call out to him, concerned about his safety."
Fire officials said the flames spread quickly, largely because the synagogue was built so long ago.
"Many of these old houses of worship, these synagogues, these churches, they're very old," said FDNY Deputy Chief Kevin Woods. "They have many voids, and the fire travels in these hidden voids, so it's a very, very difficult fire to fight."
The synagogue was built more than 100 years ago and has changed hands over the years, according to Rabbi Baruch Yehudah. It now belongs to the Bnai Adath Kol Beth Yisrael, an African American Jewish congregation that identifies as Israelites.
"This breaks my heart because I've been here as long as I can remember," said congregant Kavah Levi. "I've serviced God in this place here, and to see it in this condition, I feel lost."
"This is our home, we've been here since '67," said Yehudah. "There are people that have been members of this congregation for over 50 years. It's heartbreaking."
It's not clear if Raynor has an attorney who could comment on the charges.