East Village Explosion Injures at Least 12; Building Collapses - New York Times

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Passers-by tended to an injured person a few minutes after the explosion on Second Avenue. Credit Michael Seto Photography

A powerful explosion in the East Village caused one building to collapse and ignited a large fire that engulfed a neighboring building on Thursday, leaving at least a dozen people injured, at least three of them critically.

Francis X. Gribbon, the chief spokesman for the New York Fire Department, said the preliminary indication was that some kind of gas explosion preceded the inferno.

“It was probably a gas thing, it looks like,” he said. “But that’s not confirmed.”

By 4:05 p.m. — less than an hour after it was first reported — the event was in the seventh alarm, Mr. Gribbon said, meaning that roughly 250 firefighters from about 50 Fire Department units were at the location.

Michael S. Clendenin, a spokesman for Con Edison, said several buildings on Second Avenue — including the two involved, 121 and 123 Second Avenue — have been “undergoing renovations” since as far back as last August.

“Based on records here, the building has had some work done inside; new gas service pipes; a lot of things; piping and such,” Mr. Clendenin said.

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Fire and a Building Collapse in East Village

Fire and a Building Collapse in East Village

CreditAndrew Renneisen for The New York Times

When asked if some kind of gas leak or gas-related event might have triggered the explosion, he said: ”I have no idea. We really don’t know at this point.”

Mr. Gribbon said the first reports the Fire Department received were for a building collapse, and witnesses described a dramatic scene, with residents of the buildings scrambling down fire escapes to escape the raging flames and others dashing out of the rubble as the walls collapsed around them.

Niraj Desai, 36, a video game animator who works nearby, said he saw one woman stuck on a fire escape struggling to get the ladder unhooked.

“This poor girl was stuck upstairs,” Mr. Desai said. “She was having a hard time. You could tell there was a lot of emotion going on. A bunch of guys were down at the bottom helping her get down.”

Another man also made his way down the fire escape ladder before smoke started to pour from the building, he said.

“It was pretty crazy, pretty fast,” Mr. Desai said.

The authorities were closing down the surrounding streets, concerned that the building might entirely collapse and send debris flying. Con Ed said it was shutting off gas in the area as well.

The fire seemed to build in intensity after neighbors heard what they described as a loud boom.

With flames rising from the top of the buildings, firefighters battled the blaze and raced to keep it from spreading.

The police said the chaos was reflected in several calls to 911, which began streaming in around 3:17 p.m. Several callers described hearing an explosion.

Nathan Blaney was nearby at a bar on St. Marks Place when he heard an explosion. His hands still shaking minutes later, he recounted running to the corner and finding about six injured people laid out on the sidewalk.

Mr. Blaney took photos of the wreckage. The facade of the first floor of the building, which housed an Asian restaurant, was entirely blown out. Shards of glass reached the sidewalk across the street. Blood was splattered up and down the block and across the street.

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One man in a black apron had blood seeping from his head. Several other people were bleeding and covered with dust.

One woman was trapped on the building’s fire escape, apparently after climbing out of her apartment, Mr. Blaney said. She was stuck on the second floor, afraid to come down.

So a pedestrian from the street — visible in photographs Mr. Blaney took — jumped onto the hanging ladder, climbed up and helped her descend to the sidewalk.

“I was shaking like a leaf,” Mr. Blaney said.

At 3:59 p.m. a loud rumble sounded and the lower facade of one of the buildings began moving. A moment later, it slid slowly to the sidewalk in a mix of glass and loose bricks.

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Heavy gray smoke filled the air, and a few moments later as the smoke began to lift, it was evident that no part of the building was left standing.

Jordy Trachtenberg was smoking an electronic cigarette on St. Marks Place, trying to calm down after an explosion “rocked his apartment and made him jump” from his chair.

Mr. Trachtenberg, who lives at 30 St. Marks Place, which faces the back of buildings on Second Avenue, said he thought the explosion was in his building, where he has lived for eight years.

“I felt the ground shake underneath me, and then all this debris — plaster and glass — started pelting my windows,” he said. “I ran from my building when I saw the flames go up and my apartment filled with smoke. I couldn’t breathe. I started gagging.”

“My first thought really was it was my home,” he added, “because we haven’t had gas for six months, and Con Ed was doing work outside today.”

He shouted out to neighbors who passed by, asking them if they were fine.

“Of course I know them,” he said. “I want to make sure everyone is O.K. St. Marks is the tightest community in New York.”

Joseph Burgess, Benjamin Mueller, Jim Dwyer, Colin Moynihan and Tatiana Schlossberg contributed reporting. Research was contributed by Susan C. Beachy.

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