Smoke filled the air on the West Side of Manhattan this morning as a construction crane collapsed around 7:25am on Tenth Avenue. According to officials, six individuals have been injured: four civilians and two fire fighters.
FDNY units responded to the scene after getting a report of the fire in the engine compartment of the crane. The top part of the crane, the boom and a 16 ton load collapsed to the ground after crashing into the neighboring building.
According to Joseph Pfeifer, Deputy Commissioner of the FDNY, the crane operator had noticed the fire and tried to extinguish it, however, they eventually had to exit the crane due to the overwhelming fire.
FDNY worked to evacuate the surrounding buildings and stretch hose lines to the top floors. Using drones, FDNY was able to see whether or not most of the fire had been extinguished.
All injuries incurred are minor, assured Pfeifer. One of the fire fighters was experiencing chest pains and has been taken to the hospital.
Jimmy Oddo, Commissioner of Department of Buildings, explained that they will be looking into the people involved with the crane operation and the general contractor of the project to get to the bottom of this.
New Yorkers are currently advised to avoid 10th Avenue and 11th Avenue from West 41st Street to West 42 Street.
City officials emphasized how fortunate the circumstances were at the time of the collapse, being it wasn’t a busy commuter time, and that the situation could have been much worse.