At least eight people, including six first responders, were injured in a 3-alarm fire at a police identification building in New York City on Tuesday, officials said.
Smoke billowed over the NYPD Evidence Control and Storage facility in Red Hook, Brooklyn, where Fire Chief John Hodgens said the FDNY would work for several days to extinguish the blaze.
At a press conference Tuesday afternoon, Hodgens said the FDNY reported a fire at the evidence storage facility in the 700 block of Columbia St. at 10:37 a.m., but was unable to quickly extinguish it.
“This fire will probably burn for several days before we can get it completely out,” Hodgens said. He also said the facility contained “a lot of flammable materials.”
New York City firefighters were injured while fighting a large fire at the NYPD evidence station.
NYPD Chief Jeffrey Maddrey said the building contained “mostly evidence” and “a lot of biological material,” including DNA and evidence collected from “past crimes.”
“The evidence goes back a long time, 20-30 years.
According to him, there were several cars and e-bikes in the warehouse where the fire started. “We don’t know the severity of the damage inside,” he said Tuesday afternoon.
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He said the fire was initially reported by a contractor working inside the warehouse.
“We don’t know exactly what happened,” Maddry repeated.
Firefighters battled the blaze and initially tried to “attack the interior fire” but were unsuccessful in extinguishing the fire because it was too large for their efforts, Hodgens said.
Firefighters were “overwhelmed” and attacked from the outside, he said.
As of Tuesday night, three NYPD and three FDNY officers were injured in the fire, as well as two civilians. Their injuries were minor, Hodgens said.
Hodgens also said the FDNY was assisted by three fire trucks pouring water on the fire. They also used aerial drones to determine where to best apply water, he said.
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About 150 personnel with the NYPD and FDNY were on the scene Tuesday afternoon. Their efforts lasted until the night.
New York City Councilwoman Alexa Avilés later confirmed there were injuries and urged residents to be vigilant as recovery efforts continue.
“Residents of District 38: You may see a dark cloud coming from Red Hook. Please be careful,” Avilés tweeted Tuesday. “[Six] First aid workers and 2 civilians were injured.”
In an update posted a few hours later, he added: “It may take several days to fully extinguish the fire and [the] the causes are still under investigation.”
Later, a part of the warehouse collapsed.
Fox News’ Bradford Betz contributed to this report.