Video: NYC construction crane collapses during fire

By Bill Carey
FireRescue1/EMS1

UPDATED (10:21 a.m EDT):

NEW YORK — Six people have been injured during a construction crane fire and collapse on Manhattan’s West Side, ABC7 reported.

FDNY First Deputy Commissioner Joseph Pfeifer said that four civilians and two firefighters suffered minor injuries during the incident.

“This could have been a lot worse,” Pfeifer said.

The fire above a 54-story building on 10th Avenue at 41st Street was reported around 7:25 a.m. Photos and videos posted on social media showed the engine compartment of the crane burning. 

The crane was carrying 16 tons of concrete. The fire weakened the cable holding the concrete until the cable gave way. Both the crane boom and the concrete collapsed onto the street below.

Several buildings in the area were evacuated. 

Pfeifer said the department used a drone to determine that the fire had been extinguished.

EARLIER:

Associated Press

NEW YORK — A tall construction crane caught fire in Manhattan on Wednesday morning, and its arm hit a building as it crashed to the street below.

Photos and videos posted on social media show flames bursting from the car of a crane hundreds of feet above 10th Avenue at 41st Street. The crane’s arm scraped the top floors of a skyscraper across the street as it fell.

https://twitter.com/jimmy_farring/status/1684168538104410113

There were no immediate reports of injuries from the crane fire and collapse, which happened shortly before 8 a.m.

Firefighters stationed on a roof deck of another building used hoses to battle the blaze. Surrounding streets were closed to traffic.

The location on Manhattan’s West Side is near the Port Authority Bus Terminal and an entrance to the Lincoln Tunnel, which carries auto traffic to and from New Jersey under the Hudson River.