Three-Alarm Fire Chars Hudson Pier On West Side
NEW YORK (CBS 2) -- A fire on a West Side pier sent smoke billowing over Manhattan on Saturday. The blaze broke out just after 3 p.m. on a sanitation pier on 57th Street.
Dozens of firefighters rushed to the scene to get the flames under control.
With strong winds whipping, flames shot up high from the three-alarm fire, and a massive blanket of thick, black smoke billowed from the Sanitation Department property.
The fire consumed a large trailer that was being used as a temporary office.
"It looked like it was air conditioning," one sanitation worker said. "I saw it coming out of the air conditioning on the roof."
"To be honest, it looked like Rome was coming down again," Upper West Side resident Alex Weiss said.
The smoke could be seen for miles as it traveled up the West Side Highway. Weiss was biking from the Upper West Side to Downtown.
"I held my breath," he said. "I had to hold my breath, absolutely."
Firefighters surrounded the pier on all sides, included positioning a fire boat on the Hudson River so its water cannon could blast the flames.
One pier down, kayakers watched the blaze at the start, and watched firefighters knock it down.
"The response was quick, and the pier is saved," Zia Al-Khalil, of the East Village, said. "Our pier was not messed up, and no one lost their life."
"Considering conditions – the wind being so strong – they handled it pretty good," Chelsea resident Louis Arias said.
There are no reported injuries due to the fire.
