A series of explosions tore through a barge at a Staten Island shipyard Friday afternoon, killing one person and injuring 34 firefighters and emergency medical workers in a chaotic emergency that Mayor Zohran Mamdani called “complex” and “fast-developing.”
The initial blast struck the barge at 3:25 p.m. in Arlington, an industrial neighborhood along Staten Island’s northern coast, triggering a massive FDNY response, The New York Times reported. Crews arrived to thick smoke and were told two workers were unaccounted for inside the vessel. Less than an hour later, the barge erupted again, this time with firefighters positioned in, on top of, and beside it as they searched for the missing workers and battled the flames. The 4:19 p.m. blast wounded dozens.
A fire marshal was rushed to Staten Island University Hospital in critical condition, intubated with a head fracture and brain injury. Another firefighter was also seriously hurt by what doctors described as a strong energy wave from the explosion.
The civilian who died has not been publicly identified. Authorities confirmed the victim was not a firefighter.
“As the fire grew, first responders did what they always do,” Mamdani said at the news conference. “They ran towards danger so others could escape to safety.”
The fire continued burning into Friday night as investigators waited for the flames to die down before launching a probe. The cause remains unknown.
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