After the Christmas tree in New York City's Fox Square was allegedly set on fire, a man was detained. Shortly after midnight on Wednesday, firefighters were on the scene attempting to put out a fire outside the Fox News office in midtown Manhattan.
According to the New York Police Department, a man was apprehended after reportedly setting fire to the tree. According to security, the person was apparently seen climbing the Christmas tree outside the Fox News office building.
NYPD arrested the suspect
"Upon arrival, police noticed the suspect sprinting from the site and he was brought into custody," the NYPD told the US Sun. According to the NYPD, a man was detained after reportedly setting the tree on fire. The individual was apparently seen climbing the Christmas tree decorated outside the Fox News headquarters building, according to the NYPD.
A spokesperson for the New York Police Department confirmed to Newsweek that a 49-year-old man had been arrested in connection with the fire after he was observed climbing the tree outside Fox News' office building on the intersection of West 48 Street and Sixth Avenue by security.
The RawsAlerts Twitter account posted a video of the tree in flames, which has now been seen over 700,000 times. The Christmas tree lights outside Fox's offices were only on Sunday evening.
The 50-foot-tall tree took over 21 hours to assemble and has 10,000 glass ornaments and 100,000 lights. The suspect was last observed climbing the tree at 00:14 am on Wednesday, just before the fire started, according to the NYPD.
An NYPD spokesperson told Newsweek, "Upon arrival, police noticed the individual sprinting from the site and he was brought into custody." The investigation into whether an accelerant was used to ignite the fire is still underway.
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Fire in New York Destiny USA prompted evacuation
Meanwhile, a fire at Destiny USA on Tuesday night prompted the whole mega mall in Syracuse to be evacuated. Shortly after 6:35 pm, Syracuse firemen, police, and ambulance teams responded to a fire complaint at the mall, according to Syracuse Fire Deputy Chief John Kane.
Fire firefighters arrived to discover considerable smoke rising from the mall's roof above the Cheesecake Factory restaurant. He stated it just took a few minutes for firefighters to gain access to the roof, as per FireHouse.
Firefighters deployed a ladder truck to access the mall roof above the restaurant. Firefighters were observed working on the mall's roof, and saws could be heard from up there.
According to Kane, a large portion of the roof was on fire. Inside the mall, there was no fire damage, although a haze could be observed in a few spots, he added. Approximately 50 firemen were dispatched to the area, and the flames were put out in about 30 minutes.
When firefighters arrived, an audible alarm was sounded, according to Kane. He claimed that some people left because of the warning, but not everyone. The mall was totally evacuated, and power was turned off in the area surrounding the fire.
The mall is scheduled to reopen Tuesday night, but Kane said the precise time would be determined by mall management. There were at least seven fire vehicles on the site. Near the mall, police were blocking traffic. Many people were initially unable to depart the location due to traffic congestion. According to the state Department of Transportation, a route off of Exit 22 of Interstate 81 South was closed as of 7:40 pm.
