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Last night, on the way home from work (I work in Long Island City) I saw a fire off in the distance. I figured it was in Queens because the plumes were so big so I was going to drive toward it and see where it was.
As I got closer to the Triborough Bridge, though, I realized that the fire was probably not actually in Queens. As I got over the bridge, it was more and more obvious that something big and ridiculous was burning in the Bronx. I couldn’t have been more right.
Blaze at Bronx auto parts store
City Briefs
A Bronx auto parts store burst into flames yesterday afternoon, spewing thick black smoke that could be seen from miles away, forcing area residents to evacuate and hampering train service on nearby tracks.
About 100 firefighters responded to the blaze at Apex Used Auto Parts in the Bronx River section.
The building, in an industrial area, was enveloped in flames, and several cars were on fire. The smoke could be seen from New Jersey. Neighborhood residents – some of whom were evacuated because smoke had filled their homes – said they heard used cars exploding. “They were like bombs blowing up, but it was the cars in the back,” said Salomon Carino.
Amtrak said eight trains, including four that turned back to Penn Station, were delayed. Passengers were being bused to Philadelphia and Washington. Trains were running as scheduled by late evening, although the fire was still burning.
The Associated Press
I guess since it didn’t happen in Brooklyn or Manhattan it’s not really news, seeing as the Daily News couldn’t be bothered to send a reporter to cover it, choosing instead the AP wire, and localized sites like Gothamist are more obsessed with a bunch of railyards being junked in favor of an Arena for the Nets and other important things like a restaurant (shock of shock; in Brooklyn), and other critical stories of citywide interest (Update: Shortly after posting this, Gothamist seems to have gotten its shit together and threw up a post about the fire).
In fact, the Post, kinda covered it, in passing of course.
Just for the record, the fire took 140+ firefighters and 3 alarms to get under control. Sounds like a pretty big one, huh?
Anyway, here are some pictures I took on the way home. It was pretty incredible watching the gasoline and oil-fueled fire pouring into the sky and then getting home and watching it on television.
I mainly bring this story up because I find the lack of coverage by local media outlets disgusting. For all these places who brag about being “New York’s Hometown Paper” and “Where New Yorkers get their news,” there sure isn’t a whole lot of coverage of the story. Contrast that to the fire in Brooklyn a few months ago. That was news. Huge news. National news!
One reality of living in the Bronx is that the rest of the city is still under the impression that it’s just a bunch of abandoned cars and blown out buildings inhabited by poor people who no one cares about. I know my friends over at Lost Remote are always talking up the benefit of local news. Frankly, if this is the kind of coverage I’m going to get, I’ll stick with national news and get my own local news by looking out the window.
I should also note, though, that News 12 (A Cablevision property) did an incredible job of covering the fire, showing video, and telling the story. Despite the number of helicopters in the air, you could say that most of the local coverage (if any) was for the birds.
[tags]bronx, nyc, news, local news, television, media[/tags]