By Carol Tannenhauser
The FDNY responded to what was originally thought to be a maintenance hole (previously known as a manhole) fire at 65th Street and West End Avenue at 3:48 p.m., Wednesday, an FDNY spokesperson told West Side Rag.
Six to eight units were dispatched with about 30 firefighters for what turned out to be a fire caused by “rubbish and debris” underneath a metal plate in the area of construction work on the roadway.
“Our friends in construction helped us out,” the spokesperson said. There were no injuries.
“The sidewalk is closed, but vehicular traffic continues to move at 65th and West End, albeit with more than a little horn honking as firefighters direct traffic,” tipster Linda Schleider wrote at 4:11 pm.
Six to eight units w 30 ffs but they’re understaffed.
How did flammable rubbish get underneath this metal plate? Insofar as I can see, only the Con Ed workers had access to this.
Is this the most cost-efficient way to immediately respond to a call for help from the fire brigade (Eight units and 30 men).
Surely we can apply technology, perhaps a drone.
As the Safety Director for the contractor on this Con Edison project I would like to clarify that there was no rubbish in the excavation. We have been constructing concrete walls below the roadway to protect the existing electrical piping. An errant spark resulting from welding the roadway plates ignited a piece of insulating rubber adjacent to the formwork. The plates are welded at the end of the workday to reduce the noise made by vehicles crossing them.