A powerful explosion blasted a busy Staten Island wharf Friday, killing one person and injuring 36 others, most of them first responders including two Fire Department of New York (FDNY) members who were hospitalized with serious injuries, authorities said.
The explosion occurred around 4:20 p.m. in Mariners Harbor in the 3000 block of Richmond Terrace, where a company named May Ship Repair is located. Fire crews had been fighting the blaze inside a building for about an hour.
It’s yet to be determined what caused the blast.
The bravery drew praise from New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani in a post on X Friday.
“To the first responders who rushed toward danger without hesitation: thank you,” he wrote. “As you do every day, you put yourselves in harm’s way so others could escape. Our city owes you a debt of gratitude.”
Late Friday the mayor also announced that one FDNY fire marshal was in critical but stable condition with a small brain bleed and a temporal fracture, while one firefighter was in serious but stable condition.
The dead civilian was not identified.
“We mourn the life that was lost today, and we hold their family in our hearts,” Mamdani also wrote on X
The blast ultimately resulted in injuries to 31 firefighters, four Emergency Medical Services (EMS) personnel, and one additional civilian, officials said.
According to news reports, FDNY first started fighting the fire 3:27 p.m. after it started in the basement of a 150-foot-square structure on the waterfront site.
Authorities called a second alarm at 4:08 p.m., drawing a total of 70 units and 200 fire and EMS personnel to the scene.
“Just eleven minutes later, a massive explosion rocked the barge while crews were actively conducting searches,” the New York Post reported.
After emergency personnel took victims to local hospitals, he fire was brought under control at 7:20 p.m.
“The FDNY HazMat team, the Department of Buildings, and the Department of Environmental Protection are investigating the cause of the blast,” according to the Post.
Contributor Lowell Cauffiel is the best-selling author of the Los Angeles crime novel Below the Line and nine other crime novels and nonfiction titles. See lowellcauffiel.com for more.
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