The NYPD’s huge Brooklyn auto pound — which shops DNA proof and automobiles suspected of being utilized in crimes — was “burning down” as hearth engulfed it Tuesday, hearth officers stated.
Monumental plumes of smoke and flames shot from the Erie Basin Auto Pound on Columbia Road in Purple Hook after the blaze erupted at 10:37 a.m. — amounting to an “completely’’ a devastating loss, NYPD Chief of Division Jeffrey Maddrey stated.
“We had DNA, issues from previous crimes, burglaries, you already know, possibly taking pictures incidents,’’ the highest cop informed reporters on the scene.
“The proof goes again a very long time — 20, 30 years.’’
Sources stated investigators are trying on the chance that lithium batteries saved on the facility may have been an element within the hearth, though no official trigger has been cited.
A supply famous that the batteries have been disconnected and faraway from e-bikes that have been being saved on the web site and stated the blaze didn't begin in that space.
Sources added that no proof from energetic or open instances was being saved on the Brooklyn pound, with a lot of the objects being from chilly instances, together with clothes from victims and unidentified suspects from many years in the past.
Many of the objects had already been broken by Hurricane Sandy and have been being stored in greater than 1,000 safe barrels just like 55-gallon delivery drums, sources stated.
FDNY Chief of Division John Hodgens stated there was a “great amount of flamable materials” within the constructing — which partly collapsed through the inferno — and that he doubts something is salvageable.
It could possibly be a number of days earlier than the blaze is totally extinguished, the fireplace official added.
“I'd estimate that a lot of the contents are broken by hearth simply primarily based on the quantity of fireside that we all know is in there,” Hodgens stated.
The power’s contents included automobiles suspected of being utilized by criminals, officers stated.
A few of the vehicles are “historic automobiles,” resembling these belonging to officers killed within the line of obligation, authorities stated.
They embody the patrol vehicles of NYPD Officer Eddie Byrne, who was killed sitting in his squad car in 1988, and Officer Miosotis Familia, who was shot execution-style whereas in a cell command middle in The Bronx in 2017, sources stated.
Tons of of bikes and e-bikes that have been illegally on metropolis roads have been being saved on the property as effectively, officers stated. Batteries have been faraway from the e-bikes earlier than they have been saved there, cops stated.
Requested whether or not the fireplace was a serious loss to the Police Division, Maddrey replied, “Completely, in fact.
“We retailer different issues there as effectively, however the principle function is to retailer proof,” he stated. “That is one in every of our property amenities. It was a really severe, damaging hearth.
“We gained’t actually know the magnitude of what was destroyed in there till we've got a chance to take a look at the bill and see what was in there after which see what we are able to salvage after which we’ll go from there.”
The blaze grew to a few alarms lower than an hour after it erupted, hearth officers stated. A complete of 33 items with 140 firefighters responded.
Eight folks — together with three firefighters, three EMS members and two civilians — suffered minor accidents within the blaze, Hodgens stated.
About 15 NYPD workers, together with officers, have been contained in the constructing on the time of the blaze, and all are accounted for, cops stated.
A bit of the constructing collapsed as firefighters fought the blaze, Hodgens stated.
“It’s a metallic constructing with truss building, which has a big collapse potential, which is why we backed our members out of the constructing early within the operation,” he stated.
Hodgens estimated that it might take hearth crews “a number of days” of labor on the scene earlier than absolutely extinguishing the blaze and moving into “the deep-seated areas.”
“We’re taking pictures water in from the skin from our hearth boats,” Hodgens stated. “And it’s tough as a result of … there’s not loads of openings on this constructing.
“It’s a sealed-off constructing. In order we’re capable of get holes within the constructing from the stress of the water stream, we get water onto the fireplace. But it surely’s a tough operation that takes time to get to the seat of the fireplace.”
The identical facility was broken throughout Hurricane Sandy within the fall of 2012, and proof was ruined, sources stated.
Within the aftermath of the storm, corrections have been supposedly put in place to keep away from any future injury, in response to sources. It’s unclear whether or not these precautions have been ever enacted.
Rape kits and sexual-assault proof weren't saved on the facility.
The NYPD has one other auto pound in Springfield Gardens, Queens.
Further reporting by Jorge Fitz-Gibbon
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