POUGHKEEPSIE – A City of Poughkeepsie police officer was on patrol at 2:10 this morning when he noticed smoke coming from the State Parks building at 5 Parker Avenue. By the time the fire department arrived, flames had started coming through the roof of the 40′ x 120′ building.
The two-alarm blaze required the assistance of the Arlington, Fairview, Highland, New Hamburg, and Roosevelt fire departments to operate at the scene and provide coverage in city firehouses. Poughkeepsie Fire Chief Mark Johnson said that the building, owned by New York State, was not required to have alarms or a sprinkler system, which would have prevented the building from being destroyed.
“Due to the truss construction of the building, firefighting efforts were defensive in nature. We didn’t want our men in a building that could collapse,” said Johnson. The cause and origin of the blaze will be investigated by the New York State Office of Emergency Management.
