#Man dies when penthouse fire blows roof off Queens building

A man died Tuesday when a massive penthouse blaze blew the roof off his Queens apartment building, fire officials said.

The fire was reported just before 10:30 a.m. when an explosion erupted from the penthouse apartment of the seven-story building on 41st Avenue near 73rd Street in Jackson Heights, fire officials said.

“We have significant damage to the penthouse structure as well as the rear of the sixth floor,” Chief Thomas Currao said from the scene of the three-alarm blaze. “We have a collapse, it is a very unstable situation right now.”

“We have evacuated two buildings to the rear of the main fire structure,” the fire chief said. “[W]e’ll be working with the Department of Buildings to develop a plan for the next phase, which will be structural stability and mitigation.”

Four firefighters also suffered minor injures from the fire, Currao added.