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Video above by Homer 218 and below by FireChiefJ of an apartment fire yesterday in Spring Valley, New York (Rockland County).
The fast-moving fire erupted about 10:30 a.m. on the western side of the Raymond Castle apartment complex and took firefighters from 11 departments more than three hours to quell, officials said.
With temperatures in the 80s, firefighters worked in shifts to avoid heat exhaustion and dehydration. One firefighter was overcome by the heat and another was treated for a minor injury after taking a fall, officials said. No other injuries were reported.
Fire officials reported several firefighters suffered heat exhaustion and one fell inside the building but they were treated at the scene.
At one point or another, the Spring Valley, New City, Suffern, Tappan, Orangeburg, Hillcrest, Nanuet, Pearl River, Congers, Stony Point, Nyack, Tallaman and Monsey fire departments all responded.
“Our volunteers did a great job in cutting off the fire,” (Rockland County fire coordinator Gordon) Wren said. “When they frist showed up, they had to decide to try and manage the fire or go through the apartments and search for people. So they went looking for anyone inside, and thankfully the other departments showed up to help get things under control.”
Also on STATter911 …
- Fireground audio & video: More from apartment fire in Spring Valley, New York. – July 13, 2012
- Early video: Multi-alarm Long Island apartment fire. 30 with smoke inhalation. Two firefighters hurt. – June 18, 2012
- Raw video: House fire in Piedmont, West Virginia. – August 15, 2012
- Video: Natural gas fed fire threatens structures in Nyack, NY. – June 22, 2012
Comments
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Can anyone guess what the black mound on the roof just to the left of the ground ladder was?
MY KIC instincts were validated when the ladder truck showed up.
Never seen a maroon or a blue fire apparatus before!
Those poor firefighters looked like they were about to melt.
Its just part of the roof. One can see that The building had a peaked roof, look at the base lines, and what you see is wants left after it burned away and collapsed in.
Missing your reference on the black mound? What is the point you’re trying to get across?
As additional information, the fire is now reported to have been fought for several minutes by the residents before 911 was called.
The fire was already through the roof when the first untis arrived.
My point is I see something unusual on the roof and I cannot tell what it is. I’m hoping some seasoned roof man can say, “oh, that’s an xyz, damaged by fire”. To me it looks like a roof top air conditioner or something that’s distorted by burning.
I was polite in my first post about the staggering number of fat firefighters and general folks at this fire. I remember after I moved way out west here that I realized “Wow, there are lots of fat people in upstate NY ( my old stomping grounds). I had no reference point until seeing all these slim Scandinavian ancestry Mormons! I myself still have the upstate NY body, sadly.
Haitians live in Spring Valley. Voodoo, maybe?
Some fine physical specimens on display at this VFD cf. Sad state of affairs, all I could see we’re kids and fat folks. And that poor drut that took a break on the stoop…. not a soul seemed to want to assist him, wow.
That was the biggest display of out of shape firefighters I have ever seen. If you are going to wear the airpack, then use it. Although the fire is out, the 2nd floor was still full of smoke and the firefighters, including a chief, wore all that extra weight and didn’t breath a single bit of clean air.
That black mound is actually what’s left of the rafters in a pitched roof (no trusses, real rafters)
I was a bit stunned at the size of the cab on that engine at 7:50. I wonder if they’ve got that set up for a mobile command post inside.
they actually have they’re pump controls in the back of the cab, and 6 seats, its quite spacious
Thats enough manpower and equipment to fight the whole state of new york . Where is the height and weight requirements fit in ,poor showing for Rockland County.
They are all volunteers, what do you expect? You’mostly find fit firemen in career depts, with plenty of exceptions there too! Rockland depts, generally do a pretty good job at mitigating emergencies. Just because a few are portly, doesnt mean they are incompetant.
Where was the SAFETY officer?
Inside an IDLH with no air on, standing on the 2nd floor with master streams going.
Why was a chief officer inside doing work rather than leading a group or division? Come on guys!
The chief officer operating and not supervising, I’ll give you that, there is also no need for them to be up there in the first place, the place is a loss, what are they saviing now? there are plenty of tower ladders in Rockland, that would do the same job, but much safer. As for the mask on in a supposed IDLH, I dissagree with. There is safety and there is hinderance. Operating outside is light smoke conditions is not a reason to mask up. Given the heat of the day, one of them could have easily been injured from a fogged mask and limited field of view whenthe mask is not needed. We do not need to have our masks on for every little wiff of smoke, if so, then we had best bring enough masks for every single bystander. Judgement is neccessary, bad call on being on the second floor, good call not masking up while outside in litttle to no smoke.
When I was a vol ff we were told to keep our weight down and we were required to have a health exam once a year.Vol or paid how do you expect to do your job if you are 50 or 100 pounds overweight.There is a lot of wasted manpower that I can see.
Standards, thats great, I’m all for them, BTW, where were you a vollie? My next question is what did you do at this fire?
Very interesting comments i must say. A Lot of monday morning quaterbacking going on. @Anonymous, the reason the cab is so big is the pump panel is on the inside of the rig. Although it is a great idea for rain/snow, i come from the old fashion firefighting of standing at the pump panel outside the rig. you can see more of what is going on (view is not obstructed) and you can tell if pressure is lost by sense of feel instead of relying on those fancy computer systems (which do go down from time to time, nothings perfect).
Rockland is not a paid county. 100% volunteer. In fact we need MORE volunteers. everyone is required to get a physical yearly. I know plenty of people who are overweight (myself included) but there is a difference between being overweight and out of shape. Coming from a VERY aggressive truck company, i can still move my @$$ down a hallway during a search as fast as a younger firefighter half my size.
There is no need to be a yard breather firefighter when there is little to no smoke condition present. if thats the case then everyone should mask up when someone lights a ciggarette. I think its silly that its even an issue. As for being on the 2nd floor, i think work from a tower ladder would have been a better and safer move considering the roof collapsed into it self.
The chief was from a mutual aid company. he was not in command or supervising, he was acting as a firefighter. Just becuase you make chief doesnt mean you can NEVER fight fires… You have to realize mainpower was limited. it was a late morning/early afternoon fire during the middle of the work week. Many people were at work or left work to respond. The chief in question actually left his job to respond. since manpower was limited it was all hands on deck to bring this fire under control. from the start the fire had a jump on responders and with various building code violations (non working smoke detectors, colliers mansion type conditions, etc) it was tough to control. Honestly i think the main concern is EVERYBODY WENT HOME and the fire was contain and extinguished safely. As we all know, fires are deadly and unfortuneately dont have the same result as this one. paid or volunteer injuries and death to firefighters happen, and in this instance everyone did their jobs and came home safely.
I really dont care if your FDNY, volly from out west, paid from down south or where ever, we are ALL brother and sister firefighters. Every department does things differently. doesnt make them the wrong way (unless its COMPLETELY unsafe) or the right way. Theres no need to bash or monday morning quaterback. We are all brothers and sisters of the service and we would all help each other if we were in need, regardless of size, weight, sex, experience, or mental capacity. we all do it for the same reason, to help people. Remember that first and foremost.
TN FF …instead of bashing people why don’t you worry about yourself and your big bad Tennessee Fire Dept…clearly you guys are gods gift to the fire service. The fire was extinguished and everyone went home safely , so next time you feel like critiquing an incident you had no prior knowledge of you should think twice and make sure your hands are clean before you point fingers at peoples flaws , especially when your doing it from 900 miles away , here’s some light reading material to remind you not everyone is perfect.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/06/tennessee-home-burns-as-f_0_n_1132120.html
And David S.your complaining about an abundance of volunteer manpower during a mid day fire … you and TN FF must be close friends , maybe you guys should come up here and teach us all a thing or two about your height and weight standards … im sure I’d have a few things to show you as well.