A man died and two firefighters were injured in an explosion on a petroleum barge at a Staten Island waterfront yard Thursday afternoon, according to police and fire officials.
The fire drew more than 150 firefighters, EMS workers and hazmat personnel to the borough's North Shore, the FDNY said.
City emergency management officials were also responding.
The FDNY received a call shortly after 2:30 p.m. reporting that a 10-foot-by-40-foot container was on fire at 3249 Richmond Terrace, between South and Arlington avenues, after an explosion on a barge, according to the department.
Commanders transmitted a second alarm at 3:18 p.m., roughly 40 minutes into the response. The department assigned 53 units and 160 fire, EMS and hazmat personnel, officials said. Police said an unidentified man was killed at the scene.
Fire officials said two firefighters were injured. The FDNY did not immediately provide information about the severity of their injuries.
The fire was brought under control shortly before 5 p.m., according to the FDNY. The department said crews remaining at the scene were containing petroleum from the shipping container.
It is the second explosion on the Richmond Terrace waterfront in less than four months. A vessel blew up at a dry dock at 3075 Richmond Terrace on May 22, killing a civilian worker and injuring 36 other people, according to police and fire officials. The injured included 31 firefighters, four EMS workers and one civilian. A fire marshal and a firefighter were hospitalized in critical condition.
Two workers were painting that vessel when it exploded for unknown reasons, the NYPD said at the time. The FDNY said crews found a fire in the basement of a metal structure at the rear of the shipping docks, transmitted a second alarm and the major explosion followed 11 minutes later.
The FDNY has not said what caused Thursday's explosion. The department did not immediately say whether petroleum or any other hazardous material was released beyond the container or what the barge and container were carrying.
Officials with the city Department of Environmental Protection referred questions about the incident to the FDNY.
The cause of the May explosion was still under investigation when officials last addressed it publicly.
This is a developing story and may be updated.
