Vacant structure is site of several multiple alarms
Failure of a steel truss during a fire early this year caused a free-standing parapet to be pushed out of plumb, burying two firefighters in the colapsed debris.
A 4:02 p.m. alarm reported a fire at a three-story, 75 X 200-foot vacant office/professional building. The brick and masonry structure, which was the site of two previous fires, had been unoccupied for several months, closed by order of the Town of Huntington. The owners of the building were made aware of the closing; however, the building had not been secured. The structure had been fully sprinklered, but the system was shut off at the time of the fire. Although gas was not considered a problem or a contributing factor in this incident, the building’s gas lines were still operational.
Chief Allie Piccola of the Commack, NY, Volunteer Fire Department arrived one minute after the alarm and noted heavy smoke emitting from one of the third-floor windows. Within five minutes, the fire had involved the entire top floor. The chief immediately radioed for additional help.
The first arriving unit, a 1,000-gpm pumper, hooked up to a nearby hydrant and laid a three-inch supply line to the main entrance. The hose team met with heavy heat and smoke conditions in the interior stairwell as they stretched 200 feet of 1 hose to the third floor where the fire was located.
As the hose team began putting water on the fire, the second-arriving unit, a 100foot aerial, was positioned in front of the building, and firefighters began venting operations. Due to fire extension on and the concrete composition of the roof, immediate vertical venting was impossible; the ladder crew used the tip of the aerial to rapidly break the windows for horizontal venting.
Four mutual aid departments were called to supply additional manpower and equipment. A 75-foot Snorkel, supplied by three-inch hose, was placed on the southwest corner of the building. This positioning afforded maximum coverage on two sides of the structure. A second hose team stretched a l line up a 20-foot ladder to the second floor of the building, then advanced down the hallway to the stairwell, and up to the third floor, where they joined the first hose team.
Chief Piccola noticed the steel girders and the corners of the uppermost portions of the building begin to buckle and ordered all interior forces out of the building. Two firefighters were trapped in the rubble of a parapet that collapsed as they were exiting the structure. The men were quickly dug out by their fellow firefighters and taken to the hospital.
Firefighter John Gardinar was treated and released; Firefighter Tom Patsos suffered five broken vertebrae and was hospitalized for eight days.
With all firefighters out of the building, an exterior attack was begun, using one master stream, two deck guns, and three ladder pipes. After approximately two hours, the fire was declared under control-four hours from the time of the initial alarm.
At presstime, the cause of the fire was still under investigation.
-FE
