EAST HARLEM — A private garbage truck parked underneath the Metro-North tracks in Harlem caught fire Wednesday night, forcing the MTA to cut power to the trains, city and FDNY officials said.
The fire began around 11:20 p.m. at East 119 Street and Park Avenue, and it took firefighters nearly two hours to bring it under control. according to the FDNY.
The intersection was the same one where a gas explosion killed eight people and leveled two buildings in 2014 and where a massive fire broke out at a garden center in May 2016, sparking calls at the time to more closely regulate businesses beneath the elevated tracks.
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The Urban Garden Center had been slapped with summonses for illegally storing combustible material — including petroleum gas and gasoline — underneath the tracks without the required permits, officials said at the time.
A representative of the Urban Garden Center said Thursday that their property was not involved in Wednesday's fire.
The FDNY is currently investigating the cause of Wednesday's blaze. There were no injuries to firefighters or civilians during Wednesday night's fire, according to fire officials.
The FDNY initially described the garbage truck as a city truck,but a rep for the Department of Sanitation said it was a private trash truck.
