NYPD's New $650M Police Academy Catches Fire

April 16, 2013
A two-alarm fire hit the NYPD's new police academy that is currently under construction Tuesday.

A two-alarm fire hit the NYPD's new police academy that is currently under construction Tuesday afternoon.

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The fire melted portions of the College Point Police Academy's façade and forced work crews to evacuated the building, according to The Times Ledger.

The fire was reported around 1:30 p.m. and firefighters had it under control in a little over an hour.

FDNY Deputy Assistant Battalion Chief Robert Maynes told the newspaper that there was significant fire on the exterior of the structure, but that crews managed to contain it to the outside.

"Once it got inside, we would have had a catastrophic amount of damage," he said.

Officials said that the damage to the academy was minimal.

The first phase of the roughly $650 million facility is slated to open in December and the fire is not expected to affect the time line.

Construction materials reportedly caught fire, igniting the blaze, but the exact cause of the fire is currently under investigation.

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