Seven members of the Fire Department of the City of New York (FDNY) were injured Wednesday evening after responding to what was at first a trash fire in the Bronx. The fire took a turn for the worst when the flames spread to parked cars which resulted in a sudden explosion, officials said.
The incident took place at about 7:06 p.m. near the intersection of Westchester Avenue and Fox Street which was where firefighters arrived only to find debris and garbage burning on the sidewalk. According to FDNY Chief of Department John Esposito, the fire quickly spread to at least one vehicle, and shortly after that the explosion occurred.
Eyewitnesses described a fireball shooting into the sky as the vehicles set fire. “There was a lot of garbage and debris on the sidewalk that was on fire. There were a couple of cars on fire. And shortly after we arrived on the scene, there was some sort of explosion, a large fireball,” Esposito said.
Five of the seven injured firefighters experienced burns to their hands and faces. Three were admitted to Jacobi Medical Center with severe burns. The other four sustained more minor injuries and were treated and released.
“The burns are considered serious, but not life-threatening,” said Esposito. He then continued on to say that the firefighters are “awake, alert and speaking.”
A doctor at the hospital, Sheldon Temperman, said he was worried but expects the firefighters to recover soon. “I’ll be worried until they’re all home, but we do expect that they will recover from their injuries,” Temperman said.
One woman who witnessed the explosion said she was left shaking. “I was shaking for some time, I was shaking for half an hour already,” the woman said. “It was black smoke, explosion — the trees caught fire too, the firefighters had to extinguish that as well. It was really bad.”
According to the FDNY, the fire was declared under control by around 8:19 p.m. No civilians were reported injured in the incident.
The investigation as to what caused the initial fire seems to have found that a flick of a cigarette was all it took to cause such a disaster.
