A fire broke out at the NYPD’s Erie Basin Auto Pound on Wednesday, marking the third blaze in three years at police storage facilities in the area.

The fire, caused by an e-bike battery, sent plumes of smoke into the air, initially alarming workers at the nearby Redway Warehouse.

“I smelled the smoke and thought, ‘Where is it coming from?’” one worker said.

Another described rushing outside, fearing their workplace was on fire.

“I ran over and saw the big cloud of smoke,” they said.

In November, a fire at the same Erie Basin Auto Pound burned 10 vehicles. News 12 inquired with the FDNY about the cause of that fire and did not hear back.

“They bring in vehicles everyday—cars, scooters, everything,” a worker said.

The Erie Basin Auto Pound stores vehicles seized by the NYPD for reasons such as driver arrests, ongoing investigations or legal violations.

News 12 inquired with the NYPD if Wednesday's fire damaged any vehicles, and it deferred News 12 to the FDNY, which did not respond. When asked if the vehicles damaged in November were seized vehicles, the NYPD did not respond.

The incident comes just two years after a fire at another NYPD storage facility a few hundred feet away, where DNA evidence dating back to the 1980s was damaged. The NYPD has yet to release details on what evidence was lost.

The Legal Aid Society called on the NYPD for a list of the lost evidence. News 12 reached out to the Legal Aid Society for an update and did not hear back.