Brooklyn Bridge catches fire during Fourth of July fireworks display
Flames erupted on the Brooklyn Bridge as fireworks were being shot from it during Macy’s July 4 display over the East River.
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Video shows a plume of smoke emerging from a flaming section of the bridge as fireworks soar and burst around it Saturday night. Two other sections also appeared to burn as the pyrotechnics were being shot from the span.
“At first I thought it was supposed to happen but then I was scared it would exploded. I thought the bridge was made of wood so I was scared,” said Nearing Khoula, 24, from France, who was watching the display from the Brooklyn waterfront.
“There were four at the same time. Some extra fireworks exploded due to the fire.”
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“It started as a small fire and got bigger. There was too much black smoke,” added Mohamed Shaban, 31, of Egypt.
All the fires burned out after a minute, a Post reporter observed.
A source with knowledge of the fire response said that “minor” blazes broke out on platforms installed to launch the fireworks, not on the bridge itself — and that the 143-year-old bridge remains “safe and structurally sound.”
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The fire was extinguished with two engines, according to the FDNY.