A fire and explosion at a Staten Island shipyard killed one worker and injured 34 FDNY members on Friday, after firefighters rushed into a metal structure near the docks to search for trapped workers. The FDNY said a second explosion hit while crews were inside the building.
The fire broke out at 3075 Richmond Terrace, between Lockman Avenue and Andros Avenue, after the department received a report at about 3:30 p.m. that workers were trapped. By about 4:20 p.m., a major explosion had followed a fire in the back of the shipyard, turning a rescue call into one of the most serious incidents for the department this year. One worker did not make it out alive, and a second worker escaped but was injured.
The weight of the damage became clear in the hours that followed. FDNY Fire Marshal Christopher Cuccaro was among the first responders on scene with a special search and rescue team. He was intubated in critical condition after the blast and suffered a temporal fracture and a brain bleed. Cuccaro had a search dog with him, and the dog was uninjured. Firefighter Vincent Delgado remained in serious condition. A fire marshal and a firefighter were hurt the worst among the injured FDNY members, the department said.
The shipyard site on Staten Island sits close to the docks, where the search operation moved through a confined basement area and a metal structure. That setting matters because the force of an explosion in a tight space can be far more destructive than in open air, and the FDNY said the cause of the fire is under comprehensive investigation. Mayor Zohran Mamdani said the fire showed first responders from across the city rushing in to save lives and exposing themselves to the same danger.
Fire officials later said the department was fortunate more people were not killed, even as they acknowledged the fatality and the injuries that followed. The episode also underscored how quickly a rescue call can turn into a mass-casualty response when crews are searching for workers trapped below ground near the waterfront. For New York City, the next answer that matters is not who responded — it is what sparked the fire, the first blast and the second explosion that struck while firefighters were still inside.
