Cigarette butt caused fiery explosion that injured 7 firefighters in the Bronx: officials
LONGWOOD, Bronx (WABC) -- The careless disposal of a cigarette butt is being blamed for causing a fiery explosion in the Bronx that left seven firefighters injured on Wednesday night, according to FDNY officials.
An investigation by FDNY Fire Marshalls determined that the cigarette butt caused a trash fire which spread to a nearby vehicle, igniting its gas tank and causing an explosion, officials said on Thursday evening.
Two of the seven injured firefighters are still recovering in the hospital one day later and new surveillance video revealed clues hinting at the cause.
Video shows a cigarette tossed by someone in a group hanging out on a nearby stoop roll toward the garbage.
A few minutes later, flames were barely visible before one person went over to look.
"When they tried to put it out, that's when the oxygen got to the fire and it flamed up from there, they tried to use water to douse it, but not knowing the cause of the flames from the cigarette, once the water hit the flame, that's how you know there was a lot of grease in the recycling," said building superintendent Brian Rivera.
The trash was stacked high enough to reach the parked cars due to no DSNY collection on Election Day on Tuesday.
"I'm just glad we're OK and nobody got severely injured," said one woman whose car was charred.
She did not want to be identified but described the impact of losing the car she relied on when it exploded in a ferocious fireball that extended several stories high.
"I purchased it to learn to get on the road and not rely on the transit system, it provided me so much freedom to get around," she said.
The explosion rocked Fox Avenue in Longwood around 7 p.m., and the blast sent seven firefighters to the hospital, including five with serious burns.
Fire officials are now urging people to properly extinguish cigarettes before throwing them away, and offered tips to keep safe.
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