Update: The CitiStorage fire has reached 7 Alarms. Over 240 firefighters are at the scene battling the blaze. No injuries have been reported.
Due to hazardous conditions near the fire, the B32 has been rerouted to Berry Street starting at Metropolitan Avenue. The bus will resume its regular route at N.14th Street.
This just in: CitiStorage, the huge blue and white warehouse on the corner of Kent Avenue and North 11th Street, is engulfed in a massive fire!!!
The Fire Department responded to the 6:28 am call that the large record storage facility was on fire. It didn’t take long for the flames to take over and now the Fire Department is trying to contain the fire from spreading to CitiStorage’s next door neighbor–Bayside Oil. For those of you walking or biking along Kent Ave, surely you’ve seen Bayside’s massive oil tankers. If any flames hit there we’re looking at a MAJOR disaster. Make no mistake, this is a serious situation as pictures prove.
At 12:23pm the FDNY raised the CitiStorage fire to 6 alarms. This means 4 more trucks and 2 more ladders were added to the scene. The total count now stands at 24 engine trucks and 13 ladder trucks battling the flames. Photos show the fire being battled by at least 1 boat on the East River.
High winds and Artic temperatures are making life difficult for fire fighters. Water pumps keep freezing making spraying less effective.
For those of you who may not remember, this isn’t the first time our waterfront has been hit with a major fire. In 2006, Greenpoint’s waterfront was walloped with a suspicious 10 alarm fire. One lone homeless man was found guilty of arson, but many residents suspected foul play from the building’s owner–who had two other properties go up in flames in a similar manner.
Isn’t ironic the destroyed property was headed for landmark status and is now home to the shiny new Brooklyn Expo? Add 30 stories more and perhaps CitiStorage will suffer the same fate. When it comes to north Brooklyn’s waterfront, crazier things have happened.
Let’s keep our fingers crossed no one gets injured battling the fire before any new blueprints are made! Keep up the good work FDNY! We’re so lucky to have you!