By Lauren Young
A kitchen fire upgraded to a mass residential fire in East Syracuse, reducing one home to a “complete loss” and damaging two other neighboring houses early last Saturday morning.
According to DeWitt Police Chief John J. Anton, police responded to a report of a fire at 113 West Second Street in the Village of East Syracuse at approximately 5 a.m. on Aug. 4. Upon arrival, Dewitt Police units observed that the residence at 113 West 2nd Street were “fully involved with fire.”
Occupants of the residence told police they were asleep when their smoke detectors awoke them and alerted them to a fire in the residence, to which they then evacuated the house and called 911 to report that the kitchen was on fire.
Shortly after police units arrived on the scene, the fire spread to the neighboring residences at 109 West Second Street and 115 West Second Street, causing significant damage to all structures.
The East Syracuse Fire Department responded and were assisted on scene by the multiple other area fire departments and EAVES Ambulance, and the Dewitt Police Department was also assisted by the Onondaga County Sheriff’s Department.
According to the East Syracuse Facebook page, the fire was first reported as a stove fire by fire control, later upgraded to a residential fire.
East Syracuse Engine One and Car Four arrived simultaneously to find the two-story house with a live power line down in the front yard with heavy fire spewing from three sides.
Engine One secured a water supply and the crew stretched a two-and-a-half-inch handline to the original structure. With the amount of fire spilling from the house the crew elected to move from fire attack to exposure control in an attempt to save the two additional homes while awaiting for additional units to arrive.
According to its Facebook page, the live power line in the front yard “limited their attempt greatly,” and the fire spread to the “B” (left) side exposure attic — effectively making it a second working fire.
When DeWitt Engine Eight and East Syracuse Truck Two arrived, they stretched a handline to the “B” side exposure and performed a search of the building.
Crews were able to keep the “D” (right) side exposure in check and prevented the fire from spreading to that house.
According to the East Syracuse Fire Department, the original building fire resulted in a “complete loss,” and the “B” side exposure suffered fire damage to the second and third story.
Crews were on scene for roughly eight hours with no injuries reported from civilians or first responders.
The incident is still ongoing and police request that the area of West Second Street in the Village of East Syracuse be avoided if possible.
No injuries were reported due to the fires and the Dewitt Police Department is continuing to investigate the cause of the fire.
