A fire at a Staten Island shipyard escalated into an explosion Friday afternoon, killing one person and injuring at least 36 people.
Emergency crews were first dispatched around 3:30 p.m. after a report of two workers trapped in a confined space at a dock facility, according to the New York Fire Department. Responding firefighters found flames burning in the basement of a large metal structure at the site, said Joanne Mariano of the department’s press office.
Roughly 50 minutes into the response, a major explosion erupted while crews were still working to contain the fire, Mariano said. The blast added to the chaos at the waterfront facility, where first responders were already engaged in rescue and suppression efforts.
Officials said 36 people were injured, most of them firefighters and other first responders, and one civilian died at the scene.
A firefighter and a fire marshal were inside the structure when a second explosion happened, and both were seriously injured by the shock wave from the blast.
The fire marshal sustained a fractured skull and a small brain bleed and is currently in critical but stable condition, according to the fire department’s chief medical officer Dr. David Prezant.
“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.
It is unclear the identity of the deceased.
NTD News has contacted the New York Fire Department for further details but did not receive a response prior to publication.
Officials cautioned that the number of injured could change as crews continued to assess the scene and account for all those present at the time of the explosion.
More than 200 firefighters and emergency medical personnel from 68 units responded to the incident. Crews remained on site into the evening working to extinguish the fire and secure the area.
Authorities have not yet indicated what caused the explosion.
Witnesses described a powerful blast that could be felt beyond the immediate site. Richard Oviogor, who was nearby, told WABC-TV he heard two explosions followed by what felt like a “big shock wave.”
The shipyard is located in an industrial section of Staten Island that includes a mix of commercial operations, such as a coffee roasting business and a self-storage facility. The property also has historical significance, having once been owned by Bethlehem Steel, a company that produced ships for the U.S. Navy during World War II.
The Staten Island explosion comes as officials in Orange County, California, are managing a separate industrial emergency involving the threat of a potential blast. Thousands of residents remained under evacuation orders Friday due to concerns that a large chemical tank at a Garden Grove manufacturing facility could rupture or explode.
The Orange County incident began Thursday with a vapor release at an aerospace facility involving a 34,000-gallon tank of methyl methacrylate. By Friday, conditions had worsened, with officials warning the tank—still holding about 7,000 gallons—could trigger a boiling liquid expanding vapor explosion, or BLEVE.
“I actually went home from the bed thinking we got this thing going in the right direction,” OCFA Division Chief Craig Covey said. “Got woken up at four in the morning—going the wrong direction now.”
Officials said the tank could either rupture or explode, as evacuation zones expanded across multiple cities. “This evacuation needs to be paid attention to,” Covey said. “People need to get out of their houses and get into a safe space.”