Five-Alarm Fire at Murray and Church

There’s a substantial-looking fire on the south side of Murray, east of Church, happening right now. I’m out of town, so I can’t go over there; anyone with info please add in the comments or email tribecacitizen@gmail.com. (Note: Don’t miss the video at the end.)

Photo by Bob R.:

Photo by Paul Leys:

Photo by @yeggo:

Photo by Michael H.:

Photo by Ben L.

It’s a four-alarm fire. “Now on lower floors too,” points out Bob R. (first photo). Second photo by Michael H. UPDATE: The fire actually started on the second floor, according to the Daily News.

Photo by Bob R.:

Photo by Jason I.

Bob R. took this dramatic video of what the FDNY upgraded to a five-alarm fire….

 
Tags:

11 Comments

  1. 4 alarm fire at 24 Murray, in the shaft area

  2. Gee, I wonder if the developer will be able to rebuild market rate apartments to the maximum FAR?

  3. Looks deliberate. Maybe to get insurance or pull out

  4. NotifyNYC just texted that it’s now a 5 alarm fire.

  5. FDNY just re-tweeted that it’s a 6 alarm fire but under control:

    https://mobile.twitter.com/FDNYAlerts/status/903800674747641856

  6. I live close by. My pets and I were evacuated and the staff and owner of the restaurant downstairs helped me get my pets to a friends place at the Seaport. When I left at about 9 pm there was heavy smoke in the halls of the building and articles were stating at that point that 11 firefighters had been injured. I hope they are all recovering well and that no more injuries occurred. The building engulfed in flames in the photo is a commercial building so I am confident that articles about it being empty at the time of the fire are true.

  7. Most news outlets are making a big deal about how fortunate it is that the fire didn’t reach the shooting range in the basement. Well, as we all know, there hasn’t been a shooting range there for years. It is the now closed Remix nightclub. This lack of fact-checking does make me wonder about the credibility of the MSM.

    • Correct, the shooting range closed years ago.

    • No. It’s possibly the fault of the local FDNY company, i.e., firehouse personnel, for not doing a proper annual Building Inspection and/or not updating the CIDS.

      Per http://www.fdnewyork.com/terms.asp :

      “The Critical Information Dispatch System (CIDS) was invented to provide fire fighters with information that might be helpful while operating at a fire scene. While companies are out on building inspection they make note of special conditions that can affect their operation. Typical entries contain the height, dimensions, occupancy, and construction of the building; the location of standpipes; the location of hazardous materials stored within; or any other critical information.”

      For example, NBC News’ website said, “Fire officials said if they hadn’t arrived in time, the fire could have been devastating because they believe there is ammunition in the basement, possibly from a target range.”

      • The fire marshal should investigate for its report to see what else was wrong in the CIDS that may have hindered or hampered the FD response and contributed to the severity of the blaze. (These reports are eventually available under the Freedom of Information Law.)

  8. Per the Daily News, “The fire started inside the ducts of a restaurant on the ground floor of a five-story building on Murray St. near Church St. around 6:30 p.m., according to the FDNY.”

    It appears it is a pizza restaurant on the ground floor. Typically pizza restaurants may not be required, unlike other restaurants, to have their type of cooking vents cleaned periodically. (See 2014 NYC Mechanical Code Section 506.) A memorandum by the NYC Department of Buildings to FDNY from 1990 states, “No fire suppression system is required in the hood of a pizza oven.”
    See https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/buildings/pdf/cn3.pdf

    The ostensible reason is that they are only venting heat and moisture from cooking pizza, but there may be flammable grease from all the toppings, etc.

    Maybe these codes and policies should be changed.

Comment: