A man’s body has been recovered after an explosion triggered a five-alarm fire at a Queens home early Thursday morning, the NYPD said.
The explosion and fire also sent multiple NYPD officers to the hospital overnight.
The NYPD released dramatic video that captured the horrifying moment of the explosion, and the shock and trauma in its aftermath.
Here is video of the heroic actions that members of the NYPD took this morning to rescue children and adults from a burning home in Queens.
They were hurt. They had just been thrown to the ground by an explosion.
And in that moment, with no clear sense of what else they might… pic.twitter.com/3enokWhUup
— Jessica S. Tisch (@NYPDPC) April 30, 2026
It all started when officers responded to a dispute just before 3 a.m. at a home on 130th Street in South Richmond Hill. Cops were called after a drunk man with a knife allegedly forced himself inside the home. The woman who called the police also said it smelled like gas inside.
The 50-year-old man’s daughter and wife were able to get out safely
He was seen on surveillance video carrying two garbage bags filled with cannisters of unknown substances, said NYPD Assistant Chief Christopher McIntosh.
When eight officers arrived, they were given a key to the house.
“Thrown off their feet”
As police attempted to enter the home, there was an explosion. Windows shattered outward. Police bodycam video captures officers as they react to the blast.
“Multiple officers were thrown off their feet with some being launched into gates at the front of the residence,” McIntosh said.
“The guy just put the house on fire,” one officer can be heard saying in the bodycam video. “We have explosions.”
Video shows one of the officers recovering two children as one woman can be heard saying “I can’t breathe” and “where’s my baby.”
One officer suffered severe cuts to the head. Several residents were also taken to local hospitals, he said.
Nearly 300 firefighters and EMS personnel responded to put out the fire caused by the explosion. They said they arrived to find a two-story home fully engulfed.
The flames started in one home, then quickly spread next door. Video from the scene shows large clouds of smoke coming from the block.
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Neighbors heard the explosion
“It was a loud boom and possible gunshots, because I saw the police officers backing up, and then they were like ‘you gotta evacuate, you gotta evacuate,'” one resident said. “I just grabbed what I could and hopped in my car and drove away cause worst comes to worst, I could at least sit in my car and charge my phone, and go to someone’s house.”
A police spokesperson said there were no gunshots.
“I could see the back of the house. I could see outside, all of the windows were gone. You could already tell, the whole inside there was burned out,” a resident said.
“All I see is people running all over the place, screaming ‘we’ve got to get out of here. We’ve got to get out of here.’ The smoke and the flame was so much,” another resident.
The officers taken to the hospital are all stable, law enforcement officials said.
The Red Cross was also on the scene, assisting the 16 residents displaced.
The FDNY is asking people in the area to avoid the smoke in the area and expect traffic delays throughout Thursday morning.
The cause of the explosion remains under investigation.
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