Crime & Safety

The Case of the Exploding Verizon Van in Carroll Gardens (Now, With Video!)

Literally dozens of firefighters were called upon to harsh a truck fire on 2nd Place near Court Street early this afternoon, officials say.

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Photo courtesy of Leah Finnegan

CARROLL GARDENS, BROOKLYN — A Verizon van parked in front of 122 Second Place near Court Street burst into flames just after 1 p.m. Wednesday afternoon, drawing five units of 35 total firefighters and a semi-concerned crowd of rubberneckers to the scene.

Firefighters spent nearly an hour dousing the flames, a spokesman for the Fire Department of New York (FDNY) told Patch.

The truck fire was declared under control at 2:06 p.m. No one was injured, according to the FDNY.

Patch contacted Verizon in the aftermath of the fire for more information on its cause and consequences.

[UPDATE: After a few hours, Verizon spokesman Raymond McConville said in an email: "There’s not much of a story here. We had an engine fire in one of our vans. There were no injuries and no damage to other vehicles or property." Asked how the van itself was doing, McConville replied, "I’m not sure."]

As so often happens in brownstone Brooklyn, home base for New York City's sizeable cult of writerly and reporterly types, one of the rubberneckers on scene Wednesday afternoon happened to be Genius managing news editor Leah Finnegan, formerly of Gawker.

Kindly, Finnegan live-tweeted the important neighborhood news event back in sleepy Carroll Gardens so that those of us stuck in our Manhattan skyscrapers could follow along.

Her dispatch, below.


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