(photo: Bob McCormick)
NEWBURGH – A fire that started about 2:30 Friday morning in 484 Broadway did considerable damage to that building, and minor mostly smoke and water damage to adjacent structures. The eight people living in 484 cannot return.
No one was injured.
Acting Fire Chief Terry Ahlers said the fire was reported by a person living down the street, who saw smoke. When they got to the scene in about five minutes, they found the fire centered in the third floor and roof. They found a wall on fire in a stairwell.
The fire, which started in a bothroom, appears to be accidental, perhaps electrical.
Residents in the adjacent structures, 482, 486 and 488 were evacuated as a precaution but were later allowed to return.
Ironically, the structures are next to the Engine 3 firehouse, but the company was forced to move out just over a month ago, because of asbestos in the old building. That, the chief said, increased the response time from perhaps a minute to five minutes.
“Minutes are very precious when it comes to fire growth,” said Ahlers.
Several other companies responded to the scene, from both sides of the Hudson, including Beacon, Winona Lake, Goodwill, the Air Guard and West Point. Mobile Life Support was on the scene with blankets for people forced outside in the extreme near-zero cold.
