FDNY says fire that started at Artichoke was accidental

[EVG photo from May 26]

The FDNY took to Twitter yesterday to cite the cause of the fire at 328 E. 14th St. on May 26...

Per #FDNY Fire Marshals: Cause of 5/26 2-alarm fire at 328 East 14 St MN was accidental, due to heat from the pizza oven flue.

— FDNY (@FDNY) June 7, 2017

Per the fire marshals, the blaze "was accidental, due to heat from the pizza oven flue."

As previously reported, the two-alarm fire reportedly started inside Artichoke shortly after the pizzeria closed at 5 a.m. The fire spread from the ground level to second- and third-floor apartments through walls in the six-story building, according to the FDNY.

The Post reported on the way the pizzeria apparently learned of the fire: "A manager said he called 911 after a neighbor texted him a photo of the burning building."

The city has ordered a partial vacate on the building. An unknown number of residents have been displaced from their homes.

The pizzeria opened at 321 E. 14th St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue, in their new home across the street from their previous location, on Tuesday. We first spotted plans for the new Artichoke last November.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Artichoke appears to be moving into a new space on 14th Street

Report of an early-morning fire at 328 E. 14th St., home of Artichoke Basille’s Pizza

Artichoke Basille's Pizza signage arrives at new 14th Street location

The new 14th Street location of Artichoke Basille's Pizza is now open

Updated: Manhole explosions reported near Union Square

The Strand "currently closed" but "safe" after multiple manhole blasts this morning https://t.co/k8LXqjgaFU pic.twitter.com/VN55fDFE4P

— PIX11 News (@PIX11News) March 31, 2017

Emergency responders have been on Broadway between Union Square and 12th Street after a series of manhole explosions just after 8 this morning.

No word yet on the cause. There weren't any reports of injuries either. Will update when more information becomes available.

Hi Strand fam, thanks for checking on us this morning. The Strand (& books) are safe!! We are currently closed, stay tuned for updates. ❤️

— Strand Book Store (@strandbookstore) March 31, 2017

Updated noon:

Some details from the Daily News:

The blasts shattered the windows of the Strand Bookstore, which had not yet opened for the day, and forced the evacuation of 826 Broadway next door after eleveated carbon monoxide levels were detected, officials said.

The second manhole exploded under an FDNY firetruck that had rolled up to respond to the first explosion, damaging the vehicle, officials said.

The blasts were likely caused by damage from salt laid down during winter snowstorms and washed into the underground system by Friday morning’s rainstorm.

Updated 1:15 p.m.

Here's more from an updated WABC 7 report:

Multiple manhole fires that led to evacuations and building damage Friday, likely were caused by salt used on roads during snowstorms.

Salt laid down during winter washed into the underground system, according to the New York City Fire Department. When snow melts and mixes with salt, it can spark fires and explosions.

As for damage..

Three buildings had broken windows: 60 East 12th St., 70 East 12th St., 77 East 12th St.

There was interior damage and high carbon monoxide readings in 826 Broadway, which led to evacuations. In the basement of 817 Broadway, there also were high carbon monoxide readings.

There weren't any injuries reported.

Performance at Vector Gallery draws heavy FDNY presence on 3rd Street

Tonight over on Third Street between Avenue A and Avenue B, the Vector Galley was hosting an event/performance described as "a Vectorian Mass dedicated to the 'Israeli-Palestinian Conflict.'"

Whether there was an issue related to over-crowding or perhaps a report of a fire, the FDNY showed up around 9:20 ...



Per one witness: "The FDNY has had 3 trucks parked outside for at least 20 minutes now. Seems like a fire code violation for capacity though I heard one person say they saw people burning stuff in the small gallery."





Here's more on tonight's event at the gallery:

B!R!A!VANA is an alchemical exorcise to advance The so-called "Peace Process" beyond the impasse that has become salient to the frozen architecture of the region.

As always, we are delighted to micromanage the political affairs of The Middle East and will employ ritual pageantry to advance the immortal will of our imperial interests.

BRAVANA will feature new visual art by Crown Prince of Hell JJ Brine as well performances by Ministers of The Vectorian Government.

Vectorian Minister of State ("The Enforcer") Lena Marquise will manifest Syrian First Lady ASMA AL-ASSAD.

Vectorian Minister of Growth ("The Soldier") Michael Bianchino will manifest UNCLE SAM.

Vectorian Minister of Ceremonies ("The Bride") Cecily Feitel will manifest THE ULTRA-ZIONIST ISRAELI SETTLER.

Vectorian Minister of Education ("The Assassin") Montgomery Harris will manifest THE PALESTINIAN PROTESTOR.

The gallery opened back in August.

Thank you to Aaron Wilson for the photos!

Sunday's parting shot

The FDNY was recruiting on St. Mark's Place between Second Avenue and Third Avenue today... photo by Derek Berg

Santa comes down the ladder on 2nd Street

Courtesy of Engine 28/Ladder 11 between Avenue B and Avenue C... Photos by Bill Buchen...

[Updated] Reader report: Resident injured trying to rescue drone from 12th Street rooftop

Late this afternoon, the FDNY responded to a report of an injured person on the rooftop of the abandoned 535 E. 12th St. between Avenue A and Avenue B.



Here's information pieced together from a resident on the block based on witness accounts...

A woman apparently created a rope made of sheets to lower herself from No. 531-33 to retrieve her drone on the rooftop below.

The sheet rope didn't hold, and she fell to the adjacent roof. One person on the scene said that she was unconscious but OK.



Another reader shared this photo ... showing a police officer holding the drone...



Updated 11/5

Gothamist has more details on the incident.

Last night, our correspondent first identified the victim as a man... an NYPD sergeant at the scene last night said the person was a woman. This morning, however, an NYPD spokesperson said that the person is a man.

The man, who is in his 50s, was taken to Bellevue Hospital.

Per Gothamist:

Due to the complexity of the fall, the FDNY and NYPD's ESU had to perform a high-angle rescue utilizing an FDNY tower ladder. The building where the victim fell, 535 East 12th, is an abandoned building and access was limited due to security measures taken to secure that building from squatters.

The drone, a Yuneec Typhoon Hexacopter, costs nearly $1,000, per Gothamist.

Updated 11/6

The Post reports today that the victim, identified as Cris Piedrahita, 55, remains in critical condition.

Reports: Man struck by FDNY ambulance on 14th Street and 2nd Avenue dies from his injuries

An FDNY ambulance struck and killed a pedestrian yesterday afternoon on 14th Street at Second Avenue, according to published reports.

Gen Zhan, a Kips Bay resident, was reportedly walking north in the crosswalk at Second Avenue when he was struck by the ambulance, which was making a left. Zhan, 81, died a short time later at Bellevue.

Per ABC 7:

The ambulance did not have lights and sirens on at the time of the crash. The ambulance had a green arrow and right of way as it was making the turn.

The ambulance's driver was a 22-year-old man who had less than a year on the job, the Daily News noted.

The NYPD Collision Investigation Squad is probing the incident.

Report of a fire at 500 E. 12th St.

[Photo via @tropical_drank]

Firefighters responded to an early-morning fire on Avenue A and East 12th Street (500 E. 12th St. via @FDNYAlerts) ... the FDNY declared the top-floor fire under control after 20 minutes...

MAN ALL HANDS 500 E 12TH STREET, MULTIPLE DWELLING FIRE ON 5TH FLR, UNDER CONTROL

— FDNYalerts (@FDNYAlerts) June 2, 2016

As this time we haven't heard any more details, such as injuries ...or cause of the fire.

The top-floor apartments appears to have been destroyed...


[Photo by Christine Champagne]

Updated 7 p.m.



There is a partial vacate order now on the front door...according to DOB records, the partial vacate is just for unit 12, where the fire started (readers and sources at the scene say that a cigarette that wasn't entirely extinguished started the blaze).

The DOB also says that other minor damages from smoke and water were observed in units 3,6,7,8 and 9.

[Updated] Manhole problems on 9th and C

We've heard several varying reports this morning about FDNY and Con Ed activity on the northeast corner of Avenue C and Ninth... One reader reported hearing "an explosion" around 9 a.m.

The FDNY was quickly on the scene...

Fire in the (man) hole! @evgrieve pic.twitter.com/ezIP9xVpLH

— Ted Roden (@tedroden) April 9, 2016

Unofficial word here is a fire in the electrical cables underground ...


[Photo by Dave on 7th]

Updated 10:28 a.m.

Bystanders say the fire is not coming from a manhole... but rather a Con Ed sidewalk grating/access hatch... Con Ed and the FDNY are still on the scene.

Report: Firefighter busts would-be burglars breaking into his car on East 13th Street

Firefighter Bill Sessler was returning to Ladder 3 on East 13th Street early Friday morning when he spotted two men rummaging through his 2000 Toyota Corolla parked out front of the station between Third Avenue and Fourth Avenue.

As the Post reported, Sessler and his FDNY colleagues detained the two men until the NYPD arrived.

Jason De Jesus, 21, reportedly took Sessler's sunglasses and an air freshener.

“They’re just round, polarized sunglasses,” shrugged Sessler. “They’re just fishing sunglasses. I fish a lot.”

In addition, the NYPD reportedly found marijuana and cocaine on De Jesus, who was charged with petit larceny and third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance. The second man, Andre Kinard, 31, was charged with petit larceny.

Sessler is usually stationed at Ladder 9 on Great Jones Street, where his car has been broken into twice even though he doesn't keep valuables inside.

"It's kind of common in the neighborhood," he told the Post. "It’s been happening a lot."

Report of a fire on Stuyvesant Street

[Photo by Brian Polay]

The FDNY is on the scene now on Stuyvesant Street between Second Avenue/East 10th Street and Third Avenue...

MAN ALL HANDS 29 STUYVESTANT ST, FIRE ON 3RD FLR,

— FDNY (@FDNY) July 3, 2015

There are reports of smoke... and firefighters breaking glass.

Updated 9 p.m.

MAN ALL HANDS 29 STUYVESTANT ST, PRIVATE DWELLING FIRE ON 2ND FLR, UNDER CONTROL

— FDNY (@FDNY) July 3, 2015

Firefighter chases down alleged phone thief

Firefighter Kevin Ruiz of Engine 28 on East Second Street busted an alleged phone thief today.

WABC 7 has the story:

"She had her bag completely open and a gentleman snuck up behind her and he went into her bag and he took her phone," Ruiz said.

"At first we thought it was a joke," said Commissioner Sandy Guzman, FDNY.

But the woman wasn't laughing.

"That's when Firefighter Ruiz started screaming at the guy and tells him, 'Hey give the phone back,'" Guzman said.

Possibly stunned at being caught in the act, the suspect quickly gave the phone back, but then took off.

Ruiz was not letting him get away so fast, and chased the man two avenues and about six blocks, where his fire truck caught up with him.

The story doesn't mention where the theft took place ... but Ruiz, who was food shopping with his fellow firefighters, caught up with the unnamed suspect on East 13th Street near Avenue B.

Updated 5-19

CBS New York reports that the incident occurred on First Avenue between East 13th Street and East 14th Street.

Report of a fire at 540 E. 5th St.

[Photo via @girluninterrupt]

MAN ALL HANDS 540 E 5 ST, MULTIPLE DWELLING FIRE ON 1ST FLR,

— FDNY (@FDNY) March 29, 2015

Lots of @FDNY at 5/b, scaling building with minca ramen and tuome restaurant on ground floor. #EastVillage

— Salim (@salim) March 29, 2015

Updated 10:42 a.m.

MAN ALL HANDS 540 E 5 ST, MIXED OCCUPANCY FIRE ON 1ST FLR, UNDER CONTROL

— FDNY (@FDNY) March 29, 2015

Love and loss along 2nd Avenue

[Photo by Vinny and O]

From an essay by East Village resident Sarah Larson in The New Yorker...

As I write this, at my apartment, the sound of helicopters overhead is constant, and two people who were in the sushi restaurant, Nicholas Figueroa and Moises Locon, are known to be missing. Some two dozen were injured, four critically. And whole buildings are gone. On Twitter, people were lamenting the loss of their beloved Pommes Frites, the late-night standby that made its corner of the world smell like French fries. Other people on Twitter berated the frites lamenters, and still others pleaded for understanding between the two camps. We could mourn all of these losses, they said.

I agree. It’s important not to be glib. It’s important to focus on the missing, the injured, the brave people who escaped and helped others escape, and the people who lost their homes and businesses. The softer losses, the cultural losses, the neighborhood losses, are not as important. But they’re losses, too. They’re things we love — parts of our lives that we take for granted and now understand to be, or have been, vulnerable. They feel like trivial things, but they represent fundamental things: what we love and care about, their permanence and impermanence.

Read the whole article here.

The off-duty firefighter who was first on the scene yesterday after the 2nd Avenue explosion

In the video that Troy Hinson (aka Troyquan) took in the moments after the explosion, you can see a man climb the fire escape above Sushi Park at 121 Second Ave. and search for any people inside the building.You can see him kick in some windows during his search.

His name is Mike Shepherd, a third-generation New York City firefighter. Shepherd, of Squad 41 in the Bronx, was off duty and had just finished lunch nearby.

Al Baker at The New York Times has Shepherd's story.

“As I got closer to the corner I could feel the concussion bounced off the building across the street and kind of hit me in the chest and I said, ‘Oh man, it’s a big one.’ ”

“Then I looked and I turned and I see the whole building is out in the street and people laying there, and I said, ‘Oh man, this is bad.’ And I looked up and I thought, ‘I got to check above.’”

He saw a girl out on the fire escape, and she could not get the ladder unhooked.

“Me and a couple of other guys were trying to get the drop ladder down for her. It was too heavy. She was panicking. I told her, I said, ‘Honey, you got to calm down and listen to me.’ I said, ‘Bend with your legs and lift it up so it unhooks and then just let it go.’ And she was like, ‘I can’t.’”

He told her she could do it.

“I just kind of instilled confidence in her.”

Read the whole article here.

The FDNY remains on the scene along 2nd Avenue

#FDNY units will remain on-scene in #EastVillage as operations continue today. pic.twitter.com/mhzF5loGss

— FDNY (@FDNY) March 27, 2015

And we have more photos... a view of the three destroyed buildings at the northwest corner of Second Avenue and Seventh Street ... via EVG reader Laurie...





And a few dramatic shots from last night by EVG reader Conway Liao...

2nd Avenue and East 6th Street, 7:04 a.m.

...and another photo via Vinny and O from just before 8 a.m. ...

FDNY continues into the night at 121-123 2nd Ave.

#FDNY operations in the #EastVillage continue into the night. pic.twitter.com/dKUbcma91b

— FDNY (@FDNY) March 27, 2015

Video: The chaotic moments after the explosion on 2nd Avenue

Video via Troy Hinson (aka Troyquan)

This evening on St. Mark's Place at 2nd Avenue

Photo by Greg Masters...

Previously