One person died and 36 others were injured Friday after a fire and two explosions at a New York City shipyard, city officials said. The blasts, which occurred in the afternoon on Staten Island, injured dozens of firefighters and emergency medical workers who had rushed to the scene after reports of smoke and two workers trapped inside a large metal structure.
New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani described the situation at an evening news conference as “a complex, fast-developing emergency situation.” Fire Commissioner Lillian Bonsignore said multiple calls to the fire department began around 3:30 p.m., reporting smoke and two workers trapped in the basement of a 150-foot-by-150-foot metal building at the back of the shipyard.
Firefighting and EMS crews arrived within six minutes, Bonsignore said. But shortly after they began their response, an initial explosion caused serious injuries to several fire department members and a couple of civilians, she said. One civilian died at the scene.
While crews were still on site, a second explosion occurred, seriously injuring a firefighter and a fire marshal who were inside the structure at the time, exposed to the shock wave from the blast. The department did not immediately specify the full extent of their injuries.
In total, 36 people were hurt, the majority of them firefighters and other first responders. The identities of the deceased civilian and the injured responders were not released Friday evening. Officials said the cause of the fire and subsequent explosions was under investigation.