Crane Catches Fire Before Collapse at NYC Construction Site (Videos)

A tall construction crane caught fire in Manhattan on Wednesday morning, and its arm hit a building as it crashed to the street below.

Photos and videos posted on social media show flames bursting from the car of a crane hundreds of feet above 10th Avenue at 41st Street. The crane’s arm scraped the top floors of a skyscraper across the street as it fell.

Just watched a crane fall and pummel a building on the other side of the block! #nyc #fire pic.twitter.com/YFyaurRglN

— Jimmy 💃🏻 (@jimmy_farring) July 26, 2023

There were no immediate reports of injuries from the crane fire and collapse, which happened shortly before 8 a.m. Firefighters stationed on a roof deck of another building used hoses to battle the blaze. Surrounding streets were closed to traffic.

The crane appeared to be working on an under construction skyscraper. An alert from the New York City Fire Department’s twitter page described the fire as a “4-alarm box” fire, also describing the building as vacant or under construction. The fire department later confirmed it was responding to the fire, and included a video of the flames.

FDNY units are currently operating at a crane collapse and fire at 550 Tenth Avenue in Manhattan. pic.twitter.com/AvzlymMEtp

— FDNY (@FDNY) July 26, 2023

The location on Manhattan’s West Side is near the Port Authority Bus Terminal and an entrance to the Lincoln Tunnel, which carries auto traffic to and from New Jersey under the Hudson River.