Fire Damages Sanitation Department Facility On Pier

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City fire marshals were investigating Saturday the cause of a three-alarm fire that damaged Department of Sanitation trailers on a pier by Manhattan's West Side Highway that afternoon.

Fire officials said the flames broke out around 3:30 p.m. on Pier 97 on 57th Street and 12th Avenue, where the Department of Sanitation houses salt reserves, trucks and other equipment.

The fire's black smoke could be seen for many blocks.

More than 100 firefighters put the blaze under control by 5 p.m., and fire officials said no injuries were reported.

The trailer where the fire began housed a locker room for the department employees, according to the DOS.

"There were no injuries, no panic. Everyone got out, everyone did his and her job," said Sanitation Supervisor Gilbert Keyes, who was inside the trailer when the fire broke. "We got keys to the cars, moved the cars off the pier and made an alleyway, made it accessible for the Fire Department to do their part."

The fire was put out in little more than an hour.

Keyes said the DOS employees lost all items in their lockers.

"All the men lost their uniforms, boots, personal items that were in their lockers.... Their lunchroom was gone, the whole north field is gone," he said.

Firefighters were concerned that the day's strong winds would spread to a nearby Consolidated Edison pier that contained fuel lines, but the fire was able to be contained.

As of Saturday evening, fire officials and engineers were checking the structural integrity of the pier.