Aerial fireworks set off on a Queens street to celebrate Diwali that caused two homes to catch fire were wildly zigzagging in the air, striking front porches and flying down alleyways into parked cars, videos shared by the FDNY on Thursday show.
The 23-second clip the FDNY posted on X shows sparks flying from the fireworks and raining down on vehicles, as well as shooting into the buildings’ wooden front porches and the homes’ sides.
The errant fireworks, which were set off on Foch Blvd. near 132nd St. in South Ozone Park around 2:15 a.m. Wednesday, sparked a blaze that damaged two homes, the FDNY said.
“Fireworks are dangerous AND illegal,” the department said on X while posting the video. “FDNY Fire Marshals determined that fireworks sparked a 2-alarm fire at 132-09 Foch Boulevard in Queens early Wednesday morning. The fire damaged multiple homes. Luckily, no one was seriously injured.”
The multicolored fireworks were part of a Diwali celebration, police sources confirmed.
A block resident ignited the explosives to mark the Hindu festival of lights, which was observed in the U.S. on Monday and Tuesday and is traditionally celebrated with fireworks.
The fireworks, however, went all over and landed on a neighboring home.
Three people asleep inside the home managed to escape as the fire raged, neighbors told CBS News New York. Medics took two people with minor injuries to area hospitals.
“I was up and I smelled the smoke and saw the fire. Came running down, called my mother and father-in-law,” Mohiuddin Saif told CBS. “They noticed the fire at the same time, too. So we basically all just ran outside at the same time.”
The flames grew in intensity and quickly spread to a neighboring home, FDNY officials said. More than 100 firefighters and EMS personnel were called in to put out the blaze, which was brought under control within an hour.
Outraged neighbors said the family with the fireworks has caused trouble in the past, but never anything like this.
“We figured something like this would happen,” one of the neighbors said. “Almost everybody on this block called the Police Department multiple times because we’re like, ‘OK, this is like a danger.’”
The Hindu neighbor said he also celebrates Diwali but that his family is more responsible. He said that he celebrates by lighting diyas, which he said are like candles in clay pots, which he said historically is the Diwali tradition.
“We don’t do fireworks,” he said. “Fireworks are illegal, right? So you’re not even supposed to do that — but if you want to do, you could do it responsibly, right?”
Neighbor Hector Perez, 78, said his property sustained some damage to its garage.
“This the first year that they were throwing the fireworks and the house caught fire,” Perez said.
“I tried not to call the police because, you know, that’s their way of celebrating. But now it’s gotten bad.”
But other residents didn’t hesitate to call 911. One neighbor said fireworks had been going off since Sunday.
“All around the neighborhood, everybody was doing fireworks everywhere,” she said. “Even when you were asleep, there were people outside lighting fireworks.”
When the house across the street caught fire, she said it was chaotic.
“I hear screaming, and then when I come to the door, there was a lot of smoke coming from the front window,” she said. “And there was a lot of fire coming from the [house’s] back, but there were people trying to come through the front door and people coming around from the side. It was crazy.”
Boxes of spent “Untamed Retribution” aerial fireworks were found in the street, next to a parked car, Wednesday morning. The FDNY’s post reminded everyone that fireworks are illegal in New York City and that anyone who sees someone setting off fireworks should call 311.
Originally Published: October 23, 2025 at 1:38 PM EDT
