{"id":247121,"date":"2026-05-28T23:54:52","date_gmt":"2026-05-28T23:54:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/247121\/"},"modified":"2026-05-28T23:54:52","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T23:54:52","slug":"fire-marshal-critically-injured-in-staten-island-explosion-released-from-hospital","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/247121\/","title":{"rendered":"Fire Marshal critically injured in Staten Island explosion released from hospital"},"content":{"rendered":"

New York\u2019s Bravest gathered at the entrance to a Staten Island hospital to cheer a fire marshal who was critically injured in a deadly explosion<\/a> as doctors sent him back home to his family on Thursday.<\/p>\n

Fire Marshal Christopher Cuccaro said he still has some healing to do after being caught in the vicious blast that tore through a dockyard in Mariners Harbor, but that he\u2019s happy to be alive and eager to get back to work.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t hear \u2014 but I\u2019ll be back,\u201d Cuccaro told reporters following his release from Staten Island University Hospital.<\/p>\n

\"FDNYFDNY Fire Marshal Christopher Cuccaro, injured in an explosion aboard a barge last Friday, addressed the media before being wheeled out of the Staten Island University Hospital North Campus in Staten Island on Thursday, May 28, 2026. (Theodore Parisienne \/ New York Daily News)<\/p>\n

A member of the FDNY\u2019s Fire Marshal K-9 unit, Cuccaro was searching for the missing workers at the dockyard alongside his dog, Judge, when he was caught in the blast, an FDNY spokesman said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThings happen very quickly,\u201d said Bryan Waite, another member of the fire marshal\u2019s K-9 unit, who, along with Judge, traveled to the Staten Island hospital to celebrate Cuccaro\u2019s release. \u201cIt was a beautiful day, we were standing in the background and then, next thing you know, the explosion happened.\u201d<\/p>\n

The blast wave caused a fracture on the right side of Cuccaro\u2019s skull and bleeding on the left side of his brain, which required him to be intubated as doctors monitored his brain for swelling.<\/p>\n

\"EmergencyEmergency responders are pictured after an explosion and fire at a shipyard on Richmond Terrace between Lockman and Andros Aves. on Staten Island on Friday, May 22, 2026. (Rose Abuin \/ New York Daily News)<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a perfect example of how dangerous the life of a first responder is,\u201d Fire Commissioner Lillian Bonsignore said following Cuccaro\u2019s release. \u201cThe firefighters, the law enforcement, the EMTs, the medics, all the people out there to keep you safe, do it willingly knowing they could be putting their lives in danger.\u201d<\/p>\n

The explosion erupted at May Ship Repair on Richmond Terrace near Andros Ave. roughly 50 minutes after a fire ignited in the basement of a metal structure located at the rear of the facility around 3:30 p.m., according to fire officials.<\/p>\n

\"AnAn injured FDNY firefighter is taken to an ambulance after an explosion and fire at a shipyard on Richmond Terrace between Lockman and Andros Aves. on Staten Island on Friday, May 22, 2026. (Rose Abuin \/ New York Daily News)<\/p>\n

The fire and explosion were caused by flammable paint vapors<\/a>, which ignited at the shipyard, fire officials said Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Firefighter Vincent Delgado, 36, of Ladder 80 in Port Richmond, was also seriously injured in the explosion, according to the FDNY.<\/p>\n

Xiaoyuan Li, 56, of Flushing, Queens, who was working at the site, was killed. Thirty-six people, mostly responding firefighters, were injured in the blast.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New York\u2019s Bravest gathered at the entrance to a Staten Island hospital to cheer a fire marshal who…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":247122,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[98,100,99,262,263,266,85,267,9,24,264,12,63,261,134,265],"class_list":["post-247121","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn-headlines","tag-brooklyn-news","tag-city","tag-county","tag-crime-and-public-safety","tag-latest-headlines","tag-local-news","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-new-york-county","tag-news","tag-nyc","tag-nyc-crime","tag-staten-island","tag-sub-county-region"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247121","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=247121"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247121\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/247122"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=247121"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=247121"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=247121"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}