The FDNY battled a massive 5-alarm inferno that engulfed a Jamaica tire shop on Tuesday afternoon, sending thick black smoke skyward that could be seen from all corners of the borough for hours.
The blaze broke out at the Five Boroughs Tire Services two-story building at 1o5-17 Liberty Ave., with FDNY dispatchers receiving multiple calls of a fire at 5:17 p.m.
Engine Company 308 reported that they could see the large column of black smoke while responding from their firehouse. They arrived on the scene three minutes after the first calls were received.
Units were met by heavy fire and smoke conditions throughout the first floor in the rear extending to the second floor and the adjoining scrapyard, according to FDNY Acting Chief Joseph Esposito, who added it was a “very dangerous operation.”
Firefighters were pulled back into a defensive operation after part of the structure collapsed.
“As tires start to melt, the liquid that they create then starts to burn, which necessitates us to use the foam to extinguish,” Esposito explained. “The number of tires they had stacked up was considerable.”
The FDNY transmitted a 5th alarm at 7:14 p.m., bringing 44 units and 198 firefighters and EMS personnel to the scene. Six hose lines and five tower ladders knocked down the main body of fire before it was brought under control at 8:52 p.m., nearly five hours after the first calls were received. The NYPD blocked off Liberty Avenue to vehicular traffic until late Tuesday night.
A nearby resident witnessed the destruction of the tire shop after the wall and roof along the right side of the building collapsed.
“I used to get anything I needed for my cars over here for the last 15 years,” he said. “It is a shame to see.”
Inspectors from the city’s Department of Buildings observed significant fire damage to the detached commercial building and issued a full vacate order at the property.
DOB attended an interagency meeting at the location on Wednesday morning and investigated the incident further.
One firefighter suffered a minor injury and was treated at the scene. FDNY fire marshals will determine the cause of the massive blaze.
