TOWN OF POUGHKEEPSIE – On Wednesday afternoon the Arlington Fire Department was recalled to the site of Wednesday morning’s pre-dawn four-alarm fire that destroyed at least two Main Street buildings and damaged others.
According to fire officials, outside contractors were working in the rear of the damaged buildings, including Tony’s Pizza Pit, with excavators to remove the collapsed structures for safety reasons. An excavator operator working in the alley between Hurricane Grill and Tony’s Pizza Pit observed heavy smoke coming from the basement of the building immediately east of the pizza place at 784 Main Street.
The Arlington Fire Department was alerted and responded within minutes, closing down a portion of Main Street and Raymond Avenue to allow fire apparatus to operate. Arlington’s aerial ladder truck was placed on Main Street in front of the destroyed pizza place and began to drown the structures with water while a crew from one of Arlington’s engines used a hose and worked to gain access to the basement of the building where the heavy smoke was rising from.
One fire official told Mid-Hudson News that the basement fire was likely caused by the ignition of oil in the building’s heating oil fuel tank and the firefighters were taking appropriate measures to contain and extinguish the flames.
As of 6:00 p.m., the fire department was still operating at the scene and traffic was being diverted away from the highly-traveled area.
Video of some of the efforts on Wednesday afternoon:
