Fires Prompts Evacuation at Newark Airport

Monday, April 4, 2016 5:56 am | < 1 Minute Read

FILE - In a May 1, 2015 file photo, a United Airlines employee walks near a jet parked at Terminal C of Newark Liberty International Airport as the sun rises behind the New York City skyline, in Newark, N.J. The Federal Aviation Administration announced Friday, April 1, 2016, that it is easing limits on the number of hourly flights at Newark Liberty International Airport, and the airports operator said that should lead to greater competition and lower fares.(AP Photo/Julio Cortez, File) — A United Airlines employee walks near a jet parked at Terminal C of Newark Liberty International Airport in Newark, N.J. as the sun rises behind the New York City skyline in this 2015 file photo. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez, File)

A terminal at Newark Liberty Airport was evacuated twice early Monday when a fire broke out in a ceiling and then later reignited.

A spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey confirmed that fire began just after 1 a.m. in a boiler room in Terminal B.

Port Authority spokesman Steve Coleman said about 200 people evacuated, including passengers on a Cathay Pacific flight as well as service and airport workers. There were no injuries, but there was significant smoke in the terminal, which had to be ventilated, he said.

The first fire was extinguished about 2 a.m. and the terminal reopened, Coleman said, but it rekindled about 3 a.m. and had to be evacuated again.

The terminal was reopened about 5:30 a.m. As a result of the fires nine of the terminal’s 25 gates were closed and some flights that regularly use Terminal B — primarily Delta — had to be moved to other gates, Coleman said. Travelers should check with their airline for further information, he added.

Coleman said the cause was believed to be electrical.

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