Paint vapors determined as cause of fatal Staten Island shipyard explosion

Leonard Greene, Kerry Burke and Colin Mixson, New York Daily News on May 27, 2026

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NEW YORK — Flammable paint vapors ignited at a Staten Island shipyard, causing the fire and deadly explosion that killed a hardworking Queens father and injured more than 30 firefighters and first responders, FDNY officials and the fatal victim’s family said on Wednesday.

Investigators determined the blast and two-alarm fire were accidental and caused by “the ignition of flammable vapors associated with industrial-grade paint within the confined space,” FDNY officials said in a statement Wednesday.

Xiaoyuan Li, 56, of Flushing, Queens, was killed and 36 people, mostly responding firefighters, were hurt when a fire sparked the massive explosion at May Ship Repair.

“He was a hardworking man who loved and took care of his family,” Li’s son, Jerome Li, 22, told the Daily News at his family’s home in Flushing. “Obviously, our family is saddened by his death.”

Li had worked as a painter and sandblaster at the Staten Island dockyard for roughly four years. He immigrated to the U.S. from Yanbian prefecture in China, located near North Korea, around 10 years ago.

The fatal fire victim’s son said he and his family are eager for more information on what sparked the blaze.

“The statement didn’t mention the cause of ignition,” the son said. “It’s still preliminary speculation of what caused the fire. We’re still waiting for the full report.”

He spoke to the Daily News as he was on his way to his father’s funeral Wednesday evening.

A fire marshal and a firefighter injured in the massive fire and explosion remain hospitalized from critical injuries they suffered in the Friday blast at the dry dock in Mariners Harbor.

Fire Marshal Christopher Cuccaro, 46, of the K-9 unit, and Firefighter Vincent Delgado, 36, of Ladder 80 in Port Richmond, were both critically injured in the explosion, according to the FDNY.

They were both struck by the explosion as they searched a confined space for the trapped workers.

The FDNY received a report of workers trapped around 3:30 p.m. Friday, along with a fire in the back of the shipyard on Richmond Terrace near Andros Avenue.

That was followed by a major explosion nearly an hour later, at 4:20 p.m.

Firefighters scrambled to reach workers trapped in the basement of a metal structure near the docks, which was on fire.

The dock had been under construction for nine months before the fire broke out. The ship repair company is a family-owned business with fewer than 50 employees.

The site was formerly home to the sprawling Bethlehem Steel Corp. shipyard operation, which was a major employer on Staten Island during World War II. The shipyard was closed in 1960.

Mayor Zohran Mamdani praised first responders for “running toward danger so others could escape.”

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