Heavy Fire On Arrival In Quarry Acres

On Sunday night 4/22/12 at approximately 9:05pm, during the first heavy rain storm in weeks, Mohegan units were dispatched to a motor vehicle accident at Croton Ave and Maple Ave in Cortlandt. On arrival, there was no injuries reported and units were standing by for a tow truck when the tones dropped at 9:15pm for a reported structure fire on N. 4th St in the Quarry Acres section on Cortlandt. Within a few minutes, Engine 252 arrived and confirmed a working structure fire. With this, the first alarm was transmitted bringing Peekskill FD Rescue 134/FAS-Team, Buchanan FD Utility 12/Cascade, Mohegan EMS 69B2, and Westchester County Battalion 17. On arrival, very heavy fire was already showing from the garage door and garage window and fire extending into the cockloft above. 4 handlines in total would be stretched to extinguish this fire. Firefighters knocked down the heavy fire in the garage, while other firefighters made entry into the front door to begin to open up the ceilings and extinguish the fire advancing above. Firefighters also performed searches to confirm no victims inside. Due to the nearest hydrant being blocked by overgrown bushes making access to it difficult, firefighters were temporarily advised to exit the structure until a sufficiant water supply from a second hydrant could be established by Engine 257. Once water was supplying the apparatus from the 2 hydrants, firefighters re-entered to continue to extinguish the fire. The residence did suffer smoke, heat, and water damage. Firefighters had open up windows to ventilate and the ceiling in many parts of the residence also had to be opened up to further check for fire spread, which there was none once the fire was extinguished. Ladder 35 also extended its 105 ft aerial to the roof in case of roof ventilation. During the fire, 2 firefighters did suffer minor injuries. All Mohegan units went back into service at approximately 1am. Pictures courtesy of FF Gus Stretz.