Bryant Park holiday market fire in NYC started by cooking oil, investigators say
A raging fire started by cooking oil engulfed a stall at Bryant Park’s iconic holiday market Friday morning, sending huge plumes of black smoke rising above the Manhattan skyline.
The non-criminal but destructive fire broke out around 9:20 a.m., causing heavy plumes of fire to erupt from the shed – home to four small food-related businesses – set up inside the park on West 40th Street between Fifth and Sixth avenues, according to the FDNY and video from the scene.
“We found a fire in the kiosk behind me, approximately 6 feet by about 40 feet long,” FDNY Chief of Battalion 9, Joe Castellano, told reporters. “There was fire in there throughout.”
The FDNY confirmed later Friday that the blaze was “accidental, caused by cooking oil coming in contact with combustibles.”
The department also posted several photos of the affected kiosk reduced to shambles as firefighters surveyed the damage.
Sources told The Post the inferno appeared to have started as a trash fire and then spread to the shed.
A photo shows a small booth called Seapark, boasting offerings of lobster rolls and seafood fries, catching fire, before massive flames could be seen in images of the market.
Some neighboring areas of the park were affected, but not badly, Castellano said.
“There was slight damage to the adjacent kiosk, and there was some heat impingement on the roof of the ice skating rink behind the kiosk on fire,” Castellano said. “No real fire spread, just some flame impingement, and you see a little browning of the white roof structure.”
The blaze was placed under control by around 10 a.m., officials said.
“We are grateful for the FDNY’s quick response to the incident that occurred earlier today,” a Bryant Park spokesperson said in a statement. “The Rink and The Lodge are currently open. Most of The Holiday Shops have reopened, and we expect all the Holiday Shops that were not affected by the fire to reopen later today.”
No injuries were reported in the fire, officials said.
The blaze came about a week-and-a-half after another fire ignited a swath of Herald Square’s festive shopping corridor on Broadway between West 35th and West 36th Streets.
Eighteen shops – selling everything from bratwurst to glass ornaments to T-shirts – were destroyed in that blaze, according to an online fundraiser set up to support the vendors.
Castellano said the two similar fires just 11 days apart appear to be mere happenstance.
“I don’t think they were a concern at all,” the chief said. “I just think we had two fires.
