Nov 8, 2009 9:14 pm US/Eastern
Ellis Island Expected To Reopen Sunday
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
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Ellis Island from the World Financial Center docks. (Photo by Gregg Geller)
Gregg Geller
Normal operations resumed Sunday at Ellis Island, one day after a smoky transformer fire there forced officials to shut down the site.
Meanwhile, authorities continued to investigate the blaze, which broke out in the museum's mechanical room shortly before 1 p.m. Saturday. No injuries were reported, but the fire did cause a power failure and sent clouds of thick, black smoke into the air.
Visitors were ferried off the small island in New York Harbor shortly after the fire started, although the nearby Statue of Liberty remained open.
Armando Roman, director of Jersey City's Fire and Emergency Services Department, said firefighters were dispatched at about 12:50 p.m. Saturday after reports of an elevator emergency.
Roman said the incident was reported as a working fire because some people saw heavy smoke, but further investigation determined that a transformer had failed in the museum's mechanical room.
From 1892 to 1954, more than 12 million immigrants entered the U.S. through Ellis Island.
(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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