Syracuse, NY - Large warehouse fire - 11/17/05

[mikeinet 37]

Date: November 17-18, 2005

Time: 1830pm - ongoing (written @ 1400 11/18)

Location: 621 S. Midler Ave - Syracuse NY

Units Operating: Multiple Units + Car 2,3,4

Description Of Incident: Large abandoned warehouse - in the process of demolition - defensive attack only due to building status - unk. chemicals inside building, feared explosive

Photos: http://www.syracuse.com/news/photos/galler...id=2587&index=1

Writer: mikeinet

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writeup from syracuse.com:

Midler Avenue warehouse burns

Friday, November 18, 2005

By Delen Goldberg

Staff writer

Syracuse firefighters early today were battling a warehouse fire on South Midler Avenue.

The vacant warehouse at 621 S. Midler Ave. - the site of a proposed new strip center - housed propane and other explosive chemicals, complicating firefighters' job.

"We're losing," Syracuse fire Chief John Cowin said.

Firefighters tried to enter the warehouse when they arrived about 6:30 p.m. Thursday. But when they learned that chemicals were inside, Cowin said, they took a defensive approach.

"We're not going to risk any firefighters' lives when the building is being torn down anyway," he said. "There was no economic value to the building, no people at risk, so we decided to take a defensive stance."

Workers already had begun demolishing the warehouse to make room for a Lowe's Home Improvement Center. The building's dozen tenants had moved out by Oct. 31, said former tenant John Fitzsimmons.

Cowin said propane was in the building because workers use it for demolition.

More than 40 firefighters remained at the scene. Investigators had not identified the cause.

"But if I were to guess," Cowin said, "I'd say it has something to do with the demolition."

Edited November 18, 2005 by mikeinet