A three-alarm fire in a construction area under the Throgs Neck Bridge snarled traffic for hours, and will leave the Bronx-bound side of the bridge closed to commercial traffic for some time, according to Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) officials.
The fire began at about 5 a.m. on Friday, July 10 underneath the area where the ramp from the Cross Island Parkway merges into the bridge, and rapidly spread to three alarms.
A construction contractor was working in the area where the fire began, near the Queens end of shrouds covering the underside of the bridge. The fire area was over the water in Little Bay; a fireboat was called to the scene.
“We got a call around 4:58 a.m. about a fire around the construction work area of the bridge,” said FDNY spokesperson Frank Dwyer. “The fire officially stopped at 3 p.m., so it took about 11 hours to calm down.”
The bridge remained closed in both directions until the Queens-bound lanes were finally opened at 12:55 p.m. according to Helena Williams, acting CEO of the MTA. “We will get them opened as soon as is possible,” she said at a press conference at the Little Bay parking lot, under a panoramic view of the damaged bridge.
“Safety is our highest priority,” Williams said. “We are confident in the safety of the bridge.”
MTA officials pointed out that the Cross Island Parkway ramp had been scheduled to be closed for five weeks, starting on Thursday, July 15, as part of the $97.6 million bridge roadway deck reconstruction project.
Only two Bronx-bound lanes from the Clearview Expressway were opened at 6:30 p.m., for passenger cars only, until further notice. Officials said trucks are being diverted to the RFK Bridge.
“Trucks will have to exit the Clearview Expressway at the Willets Point Boulevard exit until the damage is assessed, after a full examination of the fire site and roadway around it,” said MTA spokesperson Joyce Mulvaney.
Mulvaney told The Queens Courier that, among truckers, “the word on the street” had already settled on other routes, reducing the potential for local street truck traffic.
Until the investigation is concluded, there is no way of knowing how long the Cross Island Parkway onramp will be closed, Mulvaney said.
A source within the MTA confirmed that some of the work in the area of the fire required “burning” or cutting of steel to be replaced, with high-temperature torches.
“I’m sure the contractor had a fire watch [a worker who looks for sparks or other ignition threats],” the source said.
According to the MTA, the work is being performed by contractor E.E. Cruz of Holmdel, N.J. As part of the project, crews from subcontractor Imperial Iron Works, of the Bronx, were working until 4 a.m. Friday.
An investigation by the FDNY has concluded that the fire was accidentally started by a steelworker’s torch at or about the end of the shift, according to spokesperson Steve Ritea.
– With additional reporting by Keldy Ortiz
