Stubborn Fire At Recycling Plant Near LIRR Tracks Snarls Evening Service
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - A large fire in Jamaica, Queens disrupted LIRR service Friday afternoon.
Flames broke out in the back of a recycling plant around 1:30 p.m. on Jamaica and Hollis Avenues. The blaze quickly grew to five alarms.
"It was a heavy amount of fire in large amounts of accumulated stories of, again like I said, newspapers and cardboard material," FDNY Assistant Chief Edward Baggott said.
Those materials stacked 15 feet high inside the building along with strong winds outside combined to fuel the fire, making it a difficult fight for the FDNY, CBS2's Jessica Layton reported.
"A very stubborn, difficult fire to put out," Baggott said. "It's going to be a long, protracted operation through the night and into tomorrow."
One firefighter suffered a minor injury.
Service was disrupted on the Port Jefferson, Ronkonkoma, Oyster Bay and Hempstead branches.
The LIRR resumed limited eastbound service on its Main Line from Penn Station while firefighting efforts continued Friday afternoon.
Trains later resumed on the Hempstead, Oyster Bay, Huntington and Jefferson branches with the potential for delays and cancellations.
LIRR tickets were being cross-honored by New York City transit at Jamaica, Kew Gardens, Forest Hills and Woodside.
Penn Station was filled with mostly frustrated passengers, CBS2's Andrea Grymes reported.
"It's just frustrating, because now I'm waiting here three hours," one man said.
"We get that things happen and we get that accidents happen and fires happen. What we are complaining about and what we are so angry about is that there is absolutely zero contingency plan," said a woman.
"I mean, there's a fire, there's nothing you can really do about it," another rider added. "They've got to just take care of it, and then we can be on our way home."
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