Fire at Jamaica, Queens tire shop burns for hours

NEW YORK — Crews spent hours battling a fire at a Queens tire shop Tuesday.

It broke out around 5:15 p.m. at a two-story shop on Liberty Avenue near 88th Street in Jamaica.

New York City Fire Department officials said when firefighters arrived on the scene, they found heavy fire in the rear of the building extending inside. Firefighters tried to enter the building, but the severity of the flames forced them to withdraw and fight the fire from outside, Acting Chief of Department John Esposito said.

Crews spent over five hours battling the flames, which were fueled by burning tires, FDNY officials said. Esposito said firefighters had to switch from using water to using foam due to the combustible and flammable liquids inside the building.

"The tires are very difficult to extinguish. As they start to melt, the liquid that they create then starts to burn and that necessitates us to use the foam to extinguish what is now like a burning liquid fire. And the number of tires that they had stacked up was considerable, so without the foam, we don't think we would've been able to extinguish this fire and stop all that smoke that we could see from miles away," Esposito said. "That smoke is toxic and trying to prevent the spread of that smoke is one of our jobs to do."

As of Tuesday night, Esposito said most of the fire has been extinguished, but firefighters will stay on the scene through the night.

The roof and right wall of the building collapsed in the blaze, and an adjacent building sustained smoke damage, FDNY officials said.

Esposito said the tire shop was open when the fire started, but employees met firefighters outside and said everyone had gotten safely out of the building without injury. One firefighter suffered a minor injury, but Esposito did not provide further details.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.