A fire and explosion ripped through a shipyard on Staten Island on Friday, injuring at least 16 people and sending more than 200 firefighters and emergency medical personnel to the scene. The fire broke out at 3075 Richmond Terrace, between Lockman Avenue and Andros Avenue, where crews were first called around 3:30 p.m. for reports of workers trapped in a confined space.
Firefighters arriving at the dock found a fire burning in the basement of a large metal structure. About 50 minutes later, at roughly 4:20 p.m., a major explosion hit the site. By Friday evening, emergency workers had counted at least 16 injuries, including three serious injuries, two firefighters with moderate injuries, nine firefighters and two EMS members with minor injuries, and two more firefighters and one civilian listed in serious condition in another account. Several firefighters also issued maydays while battling the blaze before being located and treated.
Richard Obiozor, who was nearby, said he saw a stream of emergency vehicles converging on the shipyard. “We saw a bunch of fire trucks and I heard someone say every single fire truck and police officer on the entire island was over here,” he said. He described hearing “a couple minutes later, a massive explosion, shock wave came in and a person in a white suit, I think the captain, said ‘back up.’” Another witness, Richard Oviogor, described a “big shock wave.”
The shipyard sits in an industrial stretch of waterfront that also includes a coffee roasting company and a self-storage facility. Workers were reported to be doing work in a confined space near a dry dock, a specialized basin where ships can rest on dry land, when the fire started. The property once belonged to the Bethlehem Steel Company, which built ships for the U.S. Navy during World War II.
The cause of the fire and explosion remained under investigation, and police sources said one worker may still have been unaccounted for. That leaves the central question of the night not whether the blast was powerful — it clearly was — but what happened in the confined space before the fire turned into an explosion that shook the dock and sent crews scrambling for cover.
