General-Alarm Fire Destroys Mixed-Use Buildings in Ovid, NY

OVID FIRE DEPARTMENT

Chief: William J. Palmer Sr.

Personnel: 59 volunteer firefighters

Stations: 1

Apparatus: 1 pumper, 1 aerial, 1 pumper/tanker

Population: 5,000

Area: 52 square miles

A general-alarm fire in downtown Ovid, NY, on March 18, 2014, destroyed three mixed-use buildings that contained three businesses and several apartments. More than 250 firefighters responded to the fire, which caused over $750,000 in damage. An extensive tanker shuttle was required to supply the water needed for firefighting operations.

The two-story structures were of Type III, ordinary, construction, built in the late 1870s. They occupied a total of 12,780 square feet and contained three businesses on the first floor ‒ the New Dragon Chinese Restaurant, the Joint Assessment Group and the Italian Kitchen restaurant ‒ and seven apartments on the second floor. Resources from eight counties were required at the scene or in standby capacities.

The Ovid Fire Department was dispatched to a reported fire at the New Dragon Chinese Restaurant at 7188 South Main St. at 5:45 P.M. Ovid responded with Engine 1102, Tanker/Pumper 1101 and Quint 1131 with 15 firefighters under the command of Fire Chief William J. Palmer Sr. Automatic mutual aid was also dispatched. Responding were Lodi Fire Department Engines 801 and 802 and Tanker 821; Interlaken Fire Department Pumper/Tankers 501 and 503; and Romulus Fire Department Engine 1301 and Tanker 1321

Palmer requested the Seneca County Tanker Task Force as he was leaving the fire station, as he knew the municipal hydrant system would not handle the fire. This brought Varick Volunteer Fire Department Tanker/Pumper 1502 and Tanker/Pumper 1504; Fayette Volunteer Fire Department Engine 402 and Tanker 421; Valois Logan Hector Volunteer Fire Company Tanker ME12; and Trumansburg Fire Department Tanker/Pumper 1804.

Initial operations

Ovid Quint 1131 arrived on scene at 5:48 and was positioned on the Main Street side of the building. This unit laid a 200-foot, five-inch line from a hydrant on an eight-inch water main. Engine 1102 set up on the Seneca Street side of the building and was fed by a 200-foot, five-inch line from a hydrant on a six-inch main. Engine/Tanker 1101 was positioned to reverse lay 800 feet of five-inch hose from Engine 1102 and Interlaken Engine 503 to Main and Brown streets where tanker dump site 1 was established. All residents and patrons had evacuated the buildings before the arrival of the fire department.

Firefighters advanced one 200-foot, three-inch line and three 200-foot, 1¾-inch lines to the rear of the buildings from Ovid Engine 1102 to cool four 250-pound liquefied petroleum (LP) gas tanks that were venting and burning. Before the arrival of the fire department, a “BLEVE” (boiling liquid expanding vapor explosion) occurred in a 20-pound LP gas tank, which added to the rapid spread of the fire. Crews advanced two 1¾-inch lines from Ovid Quint 1131 to the apartments on the second floor of the New Dragon. Interlaken Engine 503 was positioned on West Seneca Street. Crews placed several handlines into operation on the D side of the building.

Additional mutual aid

Palmer requested mutual aid from the Seneca Falls Volunteer Fire Department and a full department response from the Trumansburg Fire Department at 5:49 PM. Seneca Falls Engines 1402 and 1403 and Quint 1431 responded. Trumansburg responded with Quint 1831 and Engine /Tanker 1803, in addition to Tanker/Pumper 1804 that responded with the Seneca County Tanker Task Force.

At 5:53 P.M., Seneca County Fire Coordinator Charlie McCann requested an “all call” for Seneca County. Responding were Canoga Fire Department Engine 302 and Tanker 321; Border City Fire Department Engines 201 and 205, Tanker 221 and Rescue 241; Junius Fire Department Tanker 721; Magee Fire Department Engine 901, Tanker/Pumper 902 and Tanker 921; and Waterloo Fire Department Engine 1601, Tanker 1621 and Rapid Intervention Team (RIT) Unit 1641. From Tompkins County, the Enfield Fire Department responded with Tankers 621 and 622.

Seneca Falls Quint 1431 arrived on scene at 6:12 P.M. This unit was positioned on West Seneca Street and set up for aerial master stream operations. A 700-foot, five-inch supply line was laid by Fayette Engine 402 from Seneca Falls Quint 1431 to Main and Brown streets, where tanker dump site 1 was established.

Palmer requested a tanker task force from Schuyler County at 6:17 P.M. and a full department response from the Valois Logan Hector Volunteer Fire Company. Responding were Monterey Volunteer Fire Department Tanker EE-41, Odessa Fire Department Tanker HT-28, Tyrone Volunteer Fire Company Tanker JE-53, Beaver Dams Volunteer Fire Department Tanker AT-4, Burdett Volunteer Fire Company Tanker 49-B-T-5, Mecklenburg Volunteer Fire Company Tanker DT-43 and Montour Falls Fire Department Tanker T-20. The Valois Logan Hector Volunteer Fire Company in Hector responded with Engine ME-11 and Tanker ME-10.

Tanker operations

Tanker dump site 1 was established at 6:05 at Main and Brown streets. Three 2,000-gallon portable tanks and two 3,000-gallon portable tanks were set up. Romulus Engine 1301 was set up as a draft engine and pumped to Interlaken Engine 503, located on West Seneca Street, through 900 feet of five-inch line. Engine 503 provided an additional supply line to Ovid Engine 1102. Fayette Engine 402 set up as the second draft engine and pumped to Seneca Falls Quint 1431.

Two tanker fill sites were established. At 6:13 P.M., fill site 1 was located at Five Points Correctional Facility, three miles from the fire scene. Waterloo Engine 1601and Port Byron Pumper/Tanker 1 were used as supply engines on two hydrants on a 10-inch main. Fill site 2 was established 2½ miles from the scene at the Willard Drug Treatment Facility. Interlaken Engine/Tanker 501and Stanley Engine 2641 were used as supply engines on two hydrants on an eight inch water main.

Defensive operations

By 6:20 P.M., fire was burning in three buildings. Palmer ordered all crews to evacuate the building and switch to defensive operations at 6:23 P.M. Ovid Quint 1131’s aerial master stream and Seneca Falls Quint 1431’s aerial master stream were placed into operation. Trumansburg Quint 1831 was positioned on Main Street and was supplied by Trumansburg Engine 1804 through a 1,400-foot lay of five-inch line to a hydrant at the village water pump station.

McCann requested a tanker task force from Ontario County at 6:28 P.M. Responding were North Side Fire Department Tanker 1731, Phelps Fire Department Tanker 2141, Seneca Castle Fire Department Tanker 2441 and Oaks Corners Volunteer Fire Company Pumper/Tanker 3231.

A second tanker dump site was established at 6:30 P.M. at the intersection of Main and Water streets. Two 3,000-gallon portable tanks and one 2,000-gallon portable tank were set up for Hector Engine ME-11to draft from. This engine supplied a 300-foot, five-inch line to Trumansburg Quint 1831. This supply line was laid by Hector Engine ME-11.

McCann requested a tanker task force from Cayuga County at 7:04 P.M. Responding were Montezuma Fire Department Tanker 1, Throop Fire Department Tanker/Pumper 1, Union Springs Fire Department Pumper/Tanker 1, Port Byron fire Department Tanker/Pumper 1, Aurelius Tanker/Pumper 1 and Cayuga Fire Department Pumper/Tanker 1.

Two tankers from Yates County were requested by McCann at 7:55 P.M. Bellona Volunteer Fire Company Tanker 14 and a rescue and Benton Fire Department Tanker 28 responded.

At 8:13 P.M., Lodi Engine 801 was sent to South Town Building Road to establish tanker fill site 3 at a large pond 1½ miles from the fire scene. Engine 801 drafted from a dry hydrant using six inch hard suction hose to supply tankers.

At 8:21 P.M., McCann requested additional tankers from Cayuga and Ontario counties. Responding were Scipio Volunteer Fire Company Pumper/Tanker 1, Moravia Volunteer Fire Company Tanker 1, Long Hill Fire Department Tanker 1, Poplar Ridge Fire Department Tanker 1 and Fleming Fire Department Pumper/Tanker 1 from Cayuga County. Gorham Fire Department Tanker 1231, Hall Fire Department Tanker 1332, Manchester Fire Department Tanker 1531 and Stanley Fire Department Tanker 2641 responded from Ontario County.

The City of Geneva Fire Department was requested at 8:30 P.M. Quint 1181 and Heavy Rescue 1171 responded. Upon arrival, Quint 1181 was set up on West Seneca Street and supplied by 100 feet of five-inch line from Ovid Engine 1102.

Under control

With the continued use of four aerial master streams and numerous handlines, Palmer declared the fire under control at 9:45 P.M. Mutual aid units began being released at 10:18 P.M. The south tanker dump site (2) was shut down at 10:28 P.M. The north tanker dump site (1) was shut down at 11:45 P.M., five hours into the incident. The last Ovid units left the scene at 3:17 A.M. on March 19.

More than 250 firefighters operated at the scene using nine engines, four aerial devices and 41 tankers. Over 800,000 gallons of water was supplied by the municipal water system and the tanker shuttles. One firefighter suffered a foot injury, no civilians were injured. Numerous other fire departments in Seneca, Ontario, Yates, Schuyler, Tompkins, Cayuga, Steuben and Chemung counties provided fill-in or standby duties.

An investigation into the origin and cause of the fire was conducted by the Seneca County Sheriff’s Department, New York State Office of Fire Prevention and Control and Seneca County Fire Investigation Team. It was determined that an 11-year old child was responsible for starting the fire. Damage was estimated at $500,000 to the buildings and $200,000 to the contents.

LESSONS LEARNED

PROBLEMS

• Communications ‒ Radio communications with seven counties and seven different radio frequencies made it difficult to communicate. Fire coordinators or deputy fire coordinators from every county were assigned to the command post to facilitate communications.

• Water supply ‒ The village’s municipal water system is very old and could not supply the volume of water needed for a fire of this size. Palmer stated, “We all need to know our water systems. Take time to plan for this type of incident. We did and it really paid off.” Water supply to the fireground from the municipal water system was shut down about two hours into the incident as the water tower was well below half full. Four aerial master streams and numerous handlines were supplied by the tanker shuttle operations.

SUCCESSES

• Tanker shuttle operations ‒ With three fill sites and 39 tankers operating in the shuttle, water supply to the fireground was never an issue. With the use of the four hydrants at Five Points Prison and the Willard Drug Treatment Center and the dry hydrant at the pond, a continuous water supply was established. Seneca County fire departments have had “Got Big Water” training from GBW Associates LLC in Westminster, MD, over the past several years. “We have trained for this, but never expected it to be so big,” Palmer said. “The training really paid off and that is what saved our village.”

• No serious injuries ‒ With more than 250 personnel involved, 39 tankers on the road and numerous engines, aerials and support vehicle at the scene, only one firefighter suffered a minor injury. Given the time of day and the types of businesses in operation, no civilians were injured.

—Jay K. Bradish

JAY K. BRADISH/IFPA, Firehouse^® news editor, is a former captain in the Bradford Township, PA, Fire Department. He has been a volunteer firefighter and fire photographer for more than 25 years.