(Drone images by Brand-News-Team. Roger Rosenbaum licensed pilot)
WAPPINGERS FALLS – The fire that destroyed a section of the downtown business district in the Village of Wappingers Falls remains under investigation.
The blaze displaced 15 families. As of now, only seven apartments remain uninhabitable, Mayor Matthew Alexander said Monday.
Five buildings sustained significant damage with five businesses displaced as of now. Three others that were closed on the day of the fire have since reopened.
Alexander said that the originally suspected cause of the fire, in a first-floor eatery, was disproven.
“It appears that it was on an upper residential floor above the food establishment, but the cause itself is not known yet,” the mayor said.
The village has asked the building owners to put together cost estimates
of the damage and what their plans are for restoration. One of those five
buildings belongs to the mayor and he had a structural engineer look at
it. The engineer determined it is structural sound and could be rehabilitated.
