A barge caught on fire near Newtown Creek last night, a scene that many Greenpointers witnessed on our side of the waterway.Â
A call came in around 9:20 p.m., and 60 fire and EMS personnel responded to the scene shortly after. The FDNY reports that they used an excavator tool to help put out the fire, which they got under control by 2 a.m.
There were no injuries reported, and fire marshals are still investigating the cause.
The incident took place in the vicinity of 31-27 Greenpoint Avenue in Long Island City, and many local residents reported that they could see the smoke and flames.
We are lucky that out lovely Love Canal, our very own favorite Superfund site did not catch fir- much like Greenpoint sewers once did as a result of all the oil spills dumped ito the creek and ground water. You can rea d about iy by Googling an old Greenointers article: Day of Terror in 1950: The Frightening Greenpoint Underground Explosion
by Geoff Cobb November 15, 2016