
Syracuse (NY) firefighters rescued one person from a window amid a roof collapse during a structure fire on Sunday.
On January 14, 2023, at 12:28 a.m., Syracuse firefighters were alerted by the Onondaga County 911 Center to a reported fire at 100 Beard Place Firefighters from Station 8 arrived on scene less than two minutes later and reported a two-and-a-half story home with heavy smoke and fire in the rear of the second floor and attic area. A signal ‘99’ was transmitted, and crews immediately initiated an aggressive offensive fire attack.
First-arriving companies connected to a fire hydrant and began to stretch hoses into the structure. There were initial reports of a person trapped. As teams of firefighters prepared to perform a search of the structure, a fire officer spotted a person in a second-floor window, unable to escape. A team of firefighters raised a ladder to the window and the search team from Truck 8 entered the second-floor apartment. As this was happening, command staff on the outside indicated the roof of the building was beginning to collapse due to the intense fire burning in the attic. Despite a heavy smoke condition, the team located the victim, got them out the window, and lowered them down to a waiting EMS crew. The victim was transported from the scene to a local hospital. The individual is currently in stable condition with injuries that are considered not life-threatening.
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At the same time the rescue was occurring, additional arriving units were performing searches of the rest of the structure. One additional victim was located and escorted out by firefighters. They were evaluated at the scene and released.
The second floor was divided into multiple apartments, making efforts to get hoses to the seat of the fire extremely difficult. Hose teams had to cut holes through walls to access parts of the second floor. Once the rescue was completed and searches of the rest of the structure proved negative, an outside operation was ordered. Crews removed their hoses as the roof of the structure was collapsing and began to fight the fire from the exterior.
Additional units were called to the scene to assist in the operation. Cold temperatures and strong winds, coupled with additional structural collapse, made fighting the fire extremely difficult. The narrow street and overhead branches made maneuvering apparatus difficult. Crews used elevated towers and master stream devices, capable of flowing up to 1,000 gallons of water per minute, to bring the flames under control.
Syracuse fire investigators were at the scene, working to determine the cause and origin of the fire. The investigation is ongoing. The fire took more than two hours to fully extinguish, and crews remained on the scene for more than hours ensuring the fire was extinguished and assisting investigators.
The home sustained extensive fire, smoke, and water damage throughout, along with a collapse of the roof. Several people were displaced by this fire, they are being assisted by the Red Cross. One firefighter was injured during the initial rescue effort, and was transported to a local hospital for treatment and subsequently released.
A Centro Bus was brought into the scene during the extended operation to provide firefighters and emergency responders with a warming station. A total of 49 fire department personnel, from seven different city fire stations responded to this incident, including command and support staff. Syracuse Fire Department Ambulance, Syracuse Police, American Medical Response, National Grid, the American Red Cross, and Centro also responded to the scene.