NYC crane collapse: On Wednesday morning, a piece of a construction crane in Manhattan caught fire and fell from the top of a skyscraper to the street below, injuring four bystanders and two firefighters, according to New York City officials.
According to FDNY Deputy Commissioner Joseph Pfeifer, firefighters were already on the way at 7:25 a.m. to the five-alarm fire that broke out atop a 45-story structure under construction on 10th Avenue in Manhattan’s Hudson Yards neighborhood. The crane toppled outdoors, injuring everyone there, including a firefighter who was having chest symptoms, according to Pfeifer.
At the press conference, New York City Mayor Eric Adams declared, “We were extraordinarily, extremely lucky this morning. This might have been much worse, as you can see from the street.
At 550 10th Avenue, where the crane toppled, a skyscraper is planned
More than 200 firefighters and medical personnel arrived at the scene, and according to Pfeifer, they helped put out the fire by extending hose lines to neighboring skyscrapers’ top floors and evacuating nearby buildings. According to drone footage, most of the fire appeared to have been put out by 9:30 a.m. local time, he added.
According to Jimmy Oddo, commissioner of the New York City Department of Buildings, the skyscraper at 550 10th Ave. will eventually be a 54-story mixed-use structure. At the news conference, Oddo announced that his office would look into the matter and that an impartial evaluation would also be ordered.
Oddo declared, “It’s my responsibility and our agency’s job to figure out what happened here.
Using a crane to lift concrete
According to a preliminary inquiry, the crane’s operator observed that a fire had begun in the crane’s engine compartment while the crane was lifting 16 tons of concrete. According to Pfeifer, the heat from the fire weakened the crane’s rope to the point where it lost tensile strength, which led to its collapse.
The operator was forced to exit the crane and flee the scene because he was unable to put out the fire, he continued. The crane’s top portion crashed into the 555 10th Ave. building across the street as it was falling.
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Videos show the NYC crane collapse
Multiple videos recorded by onlookers and uploaded on Twitter show the crane blazing before it and the concrete load separate, crash through the adjacent structure, and tumble to the street below.
In one video shared on Twitter by user @jimmy_farring, the crane can be seen on fire before it breaks free, collides with a nearby skyscraper, and falls to the ground, sending nearby pedestrians scattering. (Editor’s note: The video contains coarse language.
Another video that podcaster Paula Pant posted on Twitter showed black smoke pouring into the air as the crane’s top disconnected and dropped.
According to a tweet from the New York City Police Department, several of the nearby roadways that had been closed to traffic had started to reopen around 9:30 a.m. However, as of Wednesday morning, 10th Avenue remained closed between 34th and 42nd Street, according to the police.
The location on the west side of Manhattan is close to the Port Authority Bus Terminal and a Lincoln Tunnel entry that carries vehicles to and from New Jersey beneath the Hudson River due to NYC crane collapse.