A fire at a World Trade Center construction site on Wednesday morning forced the nearby 9/11 Memorial to evacuate, a fire official said. About 15 minutes after the fire broke out, the memorial was reportedly cleared, as smoke billowed over the area.
The 9/11 Memorial was closed for about 30 minutes as a ‘safety precaution,’ though the fire was not within the memorial’s operational space, said Anthony Guido, a memorial spokesperson. The memorial reported that ticket reservations for that half hour were honored after the memorial reopened.
The fire started at about 11:30 a.m. on Dec. 26. in a container used both for storage and as a work space. The container in question was one of twelve, with six on the ground and six stacked on top. According to fire officials, the fire started in a top unit and spread to two neighboring containers before they got the blaze under control at about 12:20 p.m.
Over 100 fire fighters from 25 units responded to the call, officials said. No injuries were reported.
