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| Investigators say Avon Stephens, 23, was caught on surveillance video leaving the Kings Plaza shopping center parking lot before Monday morning's fire. |
MARINE PARK, Brooklyn (WABC) --
The suspect accused of causing an explosive seven-alarm fire in a Brooklyn garage is set to appear in court Tuesday.
Dozens of cars went up in flames causing their tires to explode inside the Kings Plaza Shopping Center parking garage in Brooklyn Monday.
Investigators say Avon Stephens, 23, was caught on surveillance video leaving the Kings Plaza shopping center parking lot before Monday morning's fire.
He was told by security previously not to sleep in the garage. He's believed to be homeless.
The vehicles burned on the second and third floors of the parking garage in Marine Park. Officials say there were as many as 120 cars being stored in the structure by a local car dealer.
Stephens was taken into custody later Monday evening and arrested on a charge of arson.
Eighteen firefighters and three civilians were being treated for smoke inhalation.
"None of these 21 injuries is life-threatening or critical, everyone is stable," the FDNY said. "Our members have various levels of smoke inhalation, heat exhaustion, working under those conditions. Smoke and heat, wearing what they wear, one can only imagine what they are going through."
Kings Plaza is currently closed due to the fire and smoke conditions in and around the mall.
People are asked to avoid the area during the FDNY response that drew 250 to 300 firefighters.
"We are not sure yet how many of them burned, but many of these cars were involved in this fire, creating, if you were here earlier, a huge amount of black smoke, a very large amount of fire, confronting our people," the FDNY said.
Anyone with information is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477)
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More Than 100 Cars Damaged in NYC Mall Parking Garage Inferno; Suspect Arrested: NYPD
A mall spokesperson said to avoid the area until further notice; 21 people, including more than a dozen firefighters, were hurt
By Rana Novini and Jonathan Dienst
September 17, 2018
Police have arrested a man in connection to a seven-alarm inferno that tore through a multi-level parking garage at Brooklyn's Kings Plaza Shopping Center Monday, enveloping the entire area in thick smoke, engulfing more than 100 vehicles and leaving nearly two dozen people hurt.
Police say they've arrested Avon Stephens, 23, on an arson charge in the fire at a parking garage at the mall on Avenue U and Flatbush Avenue. A motive wasn't clear, and details on an attorney for Stephens weren't immediately available.
The fire call came in shortly before 9 a.m. Monday, and the blaze quickly escalated from a two-alarm to a four-alarm fire, then became a six-alarm inferno within an hour. By 11:15 a.m., it was a seven-alarm blaze. It was under control by noon.
Twenty-one people, 18 of them firefighters, suffered non-life-threatening injuries, mostly related to smoke inhalation and heat exhaustion. Four of the victims were taken to hospitals. Fire officials warned the patient total would likely rise.
A law enforcement source said 137 cars were damaged, and 70 of them were burned to their shells, many of them Mercedes.
Police arrested this man in connection with the fire at Kings Plaza.
Investigators say Avon Stephens, 23, was caught on surveillance video leaving the Kings Plaza shopping center parking lot before Monday morning's fire.
Photo credit: NYPD
The garage holds about 4,000 spaces and fire officials said 120 cars are normally stored there by a car dealership. There were some explosions from car tires burning; officials said there is no risk of collapse.
Citizen app video showed smoke spewing from the garage as bystanders crowded near emergency vehicles, seeking shelter from the shroud of smoke.
More than a half-dozen MTA bus lines were running with delays in the area because of the FDNY activity. The department said more than 200 of its members responded.
A mall spokesperson said to avoid the area until further notice. The plaza was closed, though officials said the fire did not extend to any stores.
Kings Plaza has more than 120 stores, including Macy's, Best Buy, Sears, H&M, Michael Kors, Express and Foot Locker.
In 2013, it became the subject of a controversial order that temporarily banned people younger than 18 without the presence of an adult after hundreds of teens attacked patrons and vandalized the shopping center, forcing it to shut down.