An outdoor holiday market in New York City’s Bryant Park briefly caught fire, sending flames and plumes of smoke above the popular midtown Manhattan tourist draw. NBC New York’s Jessica Cunnington reports.
The Bryant Park Winter Village in Manhattan reopened Saturday following a destructive fire during the busy holiday shopping season.
The bustling holiday market hadn't quite opened yet Friday morning when flames shot out from one of the kiosks at the outdoor shopping village. Video from the Citizen app showed heavy flames around 9:30 a.m. several booths.
Three businesses, all of which were food booths, were completely destroyed. An adjacent kiosk, Criollas Empanadas, had slight damage and the ice skating tent took some minor heat damage, according to the FDNY.
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"This is a miracle actually because we only got destroyed one of our walls and the fire just stopped right next to us," said Mario Vivas, the owner of Criollas Empanadas, who estimated he still could lose up to $50,000 by not being open during one of the busiest weeks.
No injuries were reported in Friday's fire, which FDNY fire marshals determined to be accidental and was sparked by cooking oil "coming into contact with combustibles." An investigation remains ongoing.
"We are grateful for the FDNY’s quick response to the incident that occurred earlier today," a Bryant Park spokesman told NBC New York on Friday. "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."
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The shops are set to close for the season on Jan. 5 but the ice skating rink and the winter wonderland are open through March. The shops that were impacted by the fire will miss out on more than a week's worth of potential business, which could see them lose tens of thousands of dollars.
The city's emergency management department warned commuters to expect traffic delays and road closures around the area in the immediate aftermath of the blaze.
The long-running open-air market features hundreds of food and merchandise vendors. It draws hordes of holiday tourists to the park between Times Square and Grand Central Terminal over the holiday season.
The fire comes about 10 days after a fire at the Herald Square holiday market damaged a number of vendor booths. The market was able to reopen but 18 vendors most impacted by the fire will not return for this holiday season, according to a spokesperson.
"Don't think they were concerned at all, I just think we had two fires," said the FDNY's Castellano when asked if officials were concerned about two fires this month at city holiday markets.
