Firefighters were battling a stubborn seven-alarm inferno that ripped through a Brooklyn waterfront warehouse Saturday afternoon, fueled by mountains of records from city agencies.
The FDNY was first called to the CitiStorage facility on N. 11th St. by the East River in Williamsburg about 4:30 a.m. for a small fire in shelving unit, officials said. By the time emergency responders arrived, sprinklers had nearly extinguished the fire, which firefighters fully doused.
But they were called back to the building about 6:25 a.m. and found the warehouse consumed by flames.
Eight hours later, more than 200 firefighters were still trying to bring the blaze under control.
Fire roared through the roof of the warehouse and smoke plumes could be seen from throughout the city and beyond.
CitiStorage stores some 4 million boxes of records at the Williamsburg warehouse and in Jersey City, according to its website, and is the exclusive supplier of records management services for the city’s public hospitals.
The company also stores records for the Administration for Children’s Services and for New York State courts.
Singed records could be seen blowing in the wind and were turning up blocks away.
A Health and Hospitals Corporation spokesman said the warehouse stored only older medical records.
“As an early adopter of electronic medical records systems, HHC keeps duplicates of vital patient records in electronic form and we do not anticipate this will affect our operations,” spokesman Ian Michaels said in a statement.
Smoke-eaters were pouring water on the fire both from tower ladders and FDNY boats. Heavy winds and temperatures rising only into the 20s were making the job more difficult, officials said.
There were no reported injuries.
The nearby Star Energy oil refinery was evacuated as a precaution, sources said.
