6 injured after crane catches fire, partially collapses in New York City

NEW YORK — Six people suffered minor injuries Wednesday morning after a fire sparked on a crane atop a high-rise building in Manhattan, causing part of the crane and 16 tons of concrete to crash to the ground.

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Those injured included four civilians and two firefighters, one of whom complained of chest pain, FDNY Deputy Commissioner Joseph Pfeifer said. He added that the blaze appeared to be mostly out before 9:20 a.m., about two hours after officials got a report of a fire in the engine compartment of the crane.

Pfeifer said a person was using the crane to lift 16 tons of concrete on a building under construction when the fire started.

“We give a lot of credit to the crane operator, but the fire overwhelmed that crane operator and they had to exit the crane,” he said.

The crane was perched about 45 stories up, at the top of a building at 550 10th Ave. The top part of the crane and the concrete load collapsed as firefighters responded to the scene, damaging a building at 555 10th Ave., officials said.

On Wednesday morning, officials were focused on putting out the last of the blaze, evacuating people from nearby buildings and beginning to dismantle the crane, New York City Mayor Eric Adams said.

“We’re going to make sure that it’s done in a very orderly fashion,” he added. “As you can see from the debris on the street, this could have been much worse.”

Authorities stretched hose lines to fight the fire from nearby buildings. It was not immediately clear how the blaze began or how much damage was done.

“Once we get up there, once we’re able to look at it and do an analysis, we can find out exactly what’s happened,” Adams said.

Officials said the high-rise the crane collapsed from is set to be a 54-story mixed-use building.

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Crane collapse A crane has collapsed in New York City. (Twitter/Facebook)

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