Trending Topics

Chemical spill causes hazmat, 3-alarm fire at N.Y. warehouse

Damaged containers of hair and nail products ignited a toxic blaze, drawing firefighters, hazmat teams and precautionary evacuations in Yonkers

By David Matthews
New York Daily News

YONKERS, N.Y. — A chemical spill Tuesday triggered a three-alarm blaze and hazmat response — bringing more than 40 firefighters to a warehouse in Yonkers.

Officials say the fire broke out at the supply business, European Beauty Concepts, around noon and sent out toxic smoke.

| WEBINAR: Smarter specs: How to optimize fire apparatus design

A chemical reaction occurred after hair and nail treatment products and bleach were spilled inside precipitated the blaze, fire commissioner William Fitzpatrick said at a news conference.

“We believe that there was a forklift involved that damaged one of the containers and caused it to spill, and then created a chemical reaction,” Fitzpatrick said. “It’s a warehouse, with a lot of tightly-packed material on pallets stacked very high.”

He said the initial investigation indicated “human error” was at fault.

Several people in other buildings were evacuated out of an abundance in caution. Fitzpatrick said the wind blew the smoke away from other structures.

The air quality forced the MTA to suspend Hudson Line service between Yonkers Metro-North station — about quarter mile south from the fire — and Glenwood station — a half-mile to the north — in the afternoon. Service resumed with delays by 5:45, but some trains scheduled to depart Grand Central were canceled.

Amtrak Northeast Empire service remains temporarily suspended.

Trending
An OMB memo directs departments to plan “reductions in force” for lapsed-funded programs, going beyond past furloughs by eliminating positions
Among 344 graduates, Ian Montesi, whose father died in the North Tower collapse, and Francis Donohue, whose father died of a 9/11-related illness, are following their fathers’ path
Rigoberto Hernandez was freed from the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma after federal lawyers moved to dismiss his removal case
The rebranded system enhances grant funding access and simplifies workflows for local government, law enforcement, fire, EMS and corrections agencies

©2025 New York Daily News.
Visit nydailynews.com.
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Company News
Incident Command
Lightweight, durable, and built for modern crowd control