Beacon (Dutchess), NY- 3rd Alarm 12-21-04

[Truck4 48]

Date: 12-21-04

Time:0025hrs

Location: 343 Fishkill Ave X Delavan Ave

Description: Heavily involved private dwelling.

Units: Beacon, Glenham, Dutchess Junction and others.

Frequency:

Writer: Truck4

**further info to follow

[Guest ocff75]

Middlehope(Orange Co.)One Engine Stand-by in Beacon

Cronomer Valley (Orange Co.)One Truck Stand-by in Dutchess Junction

[NHFD21255 141]

North Highlands FD 21-6-1 W/Fast Team

[TRUCK6018 50]

Wednesday, December 22, 2004

Beacon fire leaves 21 homeless

Apartment house is destroyed

By Nik Bonopartis

Poughkeepsie Journal

Twenty one people were left homeless Tuesday after a raging fire destroyed their Beacon apartment complex, authorities said. 

Beacon firefighters responded to the Fishkill Avenue building -- a former estate converted into apartments -- a few minutes before midnight Monday and didn't leave the scene until more than nine hours later, battling both the blaze and freezing temperatures as they tried to save the structure. 

The fire went to three alarms, drawing the resources of nine other fire departments and some 100 firefighters. 

Firefighters were able to get all the residents out of the building and no one was injured, but the fire spread too quickly for the structure to be saved. 

''It was a very stubborn fire for us,'' Assistant Chief Terry Davis said. ''There were a lot of voids in the walls that allowed the fire to travel very quickly beyond our ability to stop it.'' 

The building stands behind the Hedgewood Home for Adults. Michelle Conrad, executive director of the Red Cross of Dutchess County, said there were 10 families living in the building, most of whom were employees of the adult home. 

Hedgewood took the families in overnight, and the Red Cross took over from there, placing them in hotels at least through the holiday weekend and giving clothing to the families, whose possessions were destroyed in the fire. 

''This is of course not the best time of year to be looking for a place to live,'' Conrad said. 

Harry Gurevich, an employee of Hedgewood who worked with several of the victims, said they've had ''a rough day.'' 

But Gurevich praised the responding firefighters and paramedics for their hard work through the bitter cold, saying despite the loss of the building, ''they did a wonderful job.'' 

Firefighters believe the fire started in the basement of the large structure, which was built mostly of wood and concrete and had 16-foot-high ceilings. Davis said the building's architecture contributed to the difficulties firefighters had in knocking the fire down. 

Investigators don't have an exact cause pinned down yet. As a result of prolonged firefighting efforts at the building, the basement was flooded with five feet of water Tuesday. 

The building's third floor was charred and partially collapsed and surrounding trees were encased in a thick layer of ice from the thousands of gallons of water firefighters sprayed onto the home. Davis said some of the surrounding trees collapsed under the weight of ice as firefighters battled the blaze. 

Fire investigators hope to determine the cause of the fire within the next few days. 

Beacon firefighters and rescue personnel were assisted by Beacon police and the Arlington, Chelsea, Wappingers Falls, Village of Fishkill, Rombout, Middle Hope, New Hamburg, North Highlands and Glenham fire departments. 

Nik Bonopartis can be reached at nbonopar@poughkeepsiejournal.com