NEW YORK — One person was killed and three more were injured Saturday in an apparent explosion and fire in a Brooklyn building, authorities said.

The blast apparently ripped the facade off the three-story building in the Borough Park neighborhood, leaving its upper two floors gaping open.

The fire started around 1 p.m., and smoke was still billowing out of the building three hours later.

More than 100 firefighters responded to the fire. Firefighters were hosing down an adjoining building late Saturday.

The neighborhood is largely residential but the affected building had a business on the ground floor.

A message left at a possible phone number for the building's owner wasn't immediately returned.

A spokeswoman for National Grid said staffers for the utility were on the scene working under the direction of the Fire Department.

She said the building's gas was shut off for safety.

City Department of Buildings staffers also headed out to assess the damage.

The identity of the person who was killed was not immediately released.

The Fire Department said the injuries to the other three victims were not life-threatening.