Investigators were at a New York City shipyard Saturday combing through a 150-foot-by-150-foot metal structure trying to determine what caused a fire and explosion that killed one person and wounded more than 30 firefighters and other first responders the day before, according to the Associated Press.
Firefighters were called to the shipyard in the Mariners Harbor neighborhood on the north shore of Staten Island at about 3:30 p.m. Friday. Reports said there was a fire, heavy smoke, and two workers trapped in a basement area. Less than an hour later, as firefighters and emergency medical personnel worked the scene, an explosion hit the site.
City Fire Commissioner Lillian Bonsignore said one civilian died and another was wounded. A fire marshal and a firefighter suffered serious injuries, 29 firefighters had minor to moderate injuries, and four emergency medical personnel had minor injuries. All were taken to area hospitals. The name of the person who died had not been released as of Saturday.
The fire marshal who was seriously injured, Christopher Cuccaro, suffered a fractured skull and brain bleed, said the fire department's chief medical officer Dr. David Prezant. He was in critical but stable condition. "We will be watching him very carefully over the next 24 hours to make certain there is not subsequent brain swelling. As long as there is not, he should do well," Prezant said at Friday's news conference.
Prezant said Cuccaro and the other seriously injured firefighter were wounded by the shock wave from the blast. "Thankfully both of these firefighters do not have penetrating injuries and do not have blast injury damage to their organs, to their heart, lungs or abdomen," he said.
Around 200 firefighters and emergency medical personnel responded to the scene. Richard Oviogor, who was in the area, told WABC-TV that he heard two explosions and what seemed like a "big shock wave."
Bonsignore said at a Friday evening news conference: "We got very lucky this day. We got lucky in the sense that none of our people were killed. It's unfortunate we had one fatality, and they did everything they could to get to that person."
The shipyard used to be owned by the Bethlehem Steel Company, which built ships for the U.S. Navy during World War II. The area is also home to several businesses, including a coffee roasting company and a self-storage facility. Authorities provided no major updates on Saturday, and some firefighters remained at the site as a precaution.
