At around 9:20am this morning, firefighters were called to Bryant Park, where a glass kiosk had caught fire housing up to four different shops. The fire was contained within two hours, and no one was injured according to authorities on the scene. “There was slight damage to the adjacent kiosk,” said an FDNY official speaking to NBC New York. “And there was some heat impingement on the roof of the ice skating rink behind the kiosk on fire.” The holiday market and ice rink remain closed as of this writing, and there is no news yet on when they will reopen. They opened on October 25th and were scheduled to remain until January 5th.
Videos of the blaze captured by New Yorkers in skyscrapers along 6th Avenue were uploaded to the Citizen app in real time, showing flames at least ten feet high and a thick plume of smoke rising into the skyline. According to the video footage, it would appear that the fire took place in this area of the park:
This marks the second time that a fire has erupted in one of Manhattan’s outdoor holiday markets, after another blaze damaged 18 Herald square booths at around 4 in the morning December 16th. That fire, which was determined to be caused by faulty electrical wiring, was contained within an hour, although a firefighter was sent to NYU Langone hospital after suffering serious injuries, according to officials.
