If you were awake before dawn on Monday — or jolted out of sleep by that sharp, burnt-pine smell — you weren’t imagining it. FDNY crews responded to two separate Christmas tree fires in Hell’s Kitchen within just a few hours, sending smoke drifting across the West Side.
The first call came in at 2:37am for a Christmas tree that had been set on fire outside 690 10th Avenue, between W48th and W49th Streets, according to FDNY radio transmissions. Less than two hours later, at 4:17am, firefighters were dispatched again — this time to DeWitt Clinton Park, between W52nd and W54th Streets and 11th and 12th Avenues, where a large pile of Christmas trees inside the park had caught fire.
A little later, at 4:48am, a security guard at The Nicole, a residential building near W55th Street and 9th Avenue, called 911 to report a strong odor of smoke in the area. At first, emergency responders believed the smell might be connected to a five-alarm fire at a Bronx deli that was burning at the same time. However, FDNY radio transmissions confirmed the source was much closer to home — just blocks away in the park…