Unoccupied school bus goes up in flames; building officials find illegally occupied garage next door

A 911 call was made at 6 a.m. for a report of smoke. After putting out the fire, the Department of Buildings arrived on scene.

Julia Joseph

Sep 5, 2024, 12:36 PM

Updated 10 days ago

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A school bus parked in a driveway went up in flames Thursday morning in Canarsie. Now, there is an even bigger investigation underway by the Department of Buildings.
A 911 call was made at 6 a.m. for a report of smoke. After putting out the fire, the Department of Buildings arrived on scene. The Department of Buildings told News 12 that the garage next to the burned down school bus was being illegally occupied. Inside, officials found a full apartment with a bathroom, kitchen, and working gas stove.
Inspectors have since issued a vacate order at the garage of 1407 East 92nd St., along with other summonses, to the building owner, including occupancy contrary to certificate of occupancy, work without a permit and dead storage of commercial vehicle.
Those commercial vehicles are often on the property, according to neighbors. They say the owner often keeps his belongings inside of the cars and buses parked on the property.
Inspectors also ordered the owner to board up the building in the interest of public safety.
Only the structure of the bus was left behind. Scraps also surround the bus, consisting of fragments of the bus and trash that neighbors say is always on the property.
Fire marshals have been searching for the owner of the property. Neighbors say he works in construction and would sell scrap pieces.