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Firefighters limit spread of NY warehouse fire
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services -- Unrestricted (August 6, 2008)Aug. 6--ROTTERDAM -- Firefighters were back inside a warehouse early this afternoon where a massive fire this morning consumed part of the building at the Rotterdam Industrial Park and threatened to spread to other buildings.
A thick column of smoke rose from the sprawling park on Duanesburg Road as flames consumed stacks of paper towels, toilet paper and tissue paper inside Building 6. The billowing clouds occasionally obscured the view of two high-rise water canons firefighters used to pour water onto the building.
No one was injured in the blaze, which was reported at 5 a.m., police said. It appears firefighters kept the fire from spreading to other structures at the sprawling complex. Firefighters initially fled Building 6 when flames caused the roof to collapse. But they went back inside the building, tending to smaller hot spots, authorities said.
The fire began in a bay of Building 6 that was filled floor to ceiling with pallets paper goods, County Fire Coordinator John Nuzback.
"It was pallet, upon pallet, upon pallet," Nuzback said.
Fire doors closed on the bay as the fire began, limiting the spread of the flames, said David Buicko, chief operating officer of the Galesi Group, the company that owns the complex.
Had the fire doors not closed, Nuzback said "this could have all been gone" and motioned to the rest of the park.
"All employees who were working in Building 6 were evacuated," Rotterdam police say in a statement released this morning. "At this time there are no reported injuries. The cause of the fire is under investigation." To see more of the Albany Times Union, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.timesunion.com. Copyright (c) 2008, Albany Times Union, N.Y. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.
