By RICHARD PYLE
The Associated Press
NEW YORK CITY — Fire officials continued to monitor small pockets of “deep-rooted” fire at a historic waterfront complex that had been destroyed by a blaze that took nearly 36 hours to douse.
Some smoldering fire deep-rooted in the debris continued to burn, Fire Lieutenant Tom Kane said. The blaze erupted early Tuesday morning and was officially declared under control at 5:11 p.m. Wednesday, Kane said.
Meanwhile, fire marshals pressed ahead with an investigation of possible arson. Investigators were canvassing the Brooklyn neighborhood for witnesses, Chief Fire Marshal Louis Garcia said.
Officials said the 10-alarm fire was the city’s biggest — excluding the World Trade Center disaster — since a fire at Brooklyn’s St. George Hotel in 1995. The huge plume of roiling black smoke, visible for miles, reminded many New Yorkers of the Sept. 11 terrorist attack.
Fourteen firefighters suffered minor injuries, officials said.
The destruction included a building that was the world’s largest rope factory in the late 19th century and a portion of the former Greenpoint Terminal Market, a place preservationists wanted listed as a city landmark.