Gloves Freeze to Hands of FF Battling Massive Blaze in Village of Ovid, NY
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Village of Ovid, N.Y. ― Firefighters battling a “historic” fire that destroyed a block in the village of Ovid were battling such cold conditions that their shirts and gloves froze to them, the fire chief said.
Fighting the fire was extremely difficult because of temperatures in the single digits and wind chills as low as minus 15 degrees. Water froze instantly.
Firefighters ran out of water from hydrants at one point and had to truck in tankers of water from miles away.
The cause of the fire appears to be linked to a large charger device typically used in camping.
Fire, police and local officials held a news conference Wednesday afternoon to release those details and discuss the fire in the heart of the tiny village that destroyed six businesses including the village’s only grocery store.
Seneca County Sheriff Timothy Thompson said the fire displaced 15 to 20 people living in apartments in the buildings that were destroyed.
At 5:46 p.m., the Seneca County 911 Center received a 911 call that an apartment above the Big M grocery store on Main Street was on fire, Thompson said.
Deputies arrived and checked apartments to make sure no one was inside.
The fire spread from the Big M to the Uptown Diner, laundromat, Steps office and Italian Kitchen. A total of six businesses were lost, said Ovid Volunteer Fire Department Chief Timothy Westlake. Westlake did not say what the additional business was.
Firefighters faced several challenges as they battled the fire for more than 11 hours.
“We dealt with freezing cold temperatures, icing up of equipment, icing up of personnel,” Westlake said.
On Wednesday morning, the roads and sidewalks around the Big M were sheets of smooth ice.
The wind was also a challenge, he said. The wind carried debris to the Edith B. Ford Memorial Library. Firefighters sat on the roof for hours in the cold to extinguish flaming debris that landed, he said.
Trees in the park across from the Big M also started to catch fire, he said.
Three firefighters were injured in the “historic” fire, Westlake said.
One firefighter had a slight asthma attack, he said. Another firefighter had their gloves frozen to their hands and a third had a shirt frozen to their chest from sweat. All three were cleared by EMS, he said.
Multiple warming centers were set up for the first responders. The school district opened to help them recover and also sent busses to shuttle first responders to and from the scene and warming centers.
The firefighters also ran out of water. The village was so depleted they had to stop using the fire hydrants, Westlake said. Tankers of water kept coming in from as far as 45 minutes away but some tankers were frozen shut, he said.
“Every adjoining county and then some sent personnel, apparatus, water supply,” he said.
The design and age of the buildings didn’t help. There was a common attic space that helped the fire spread, he said.
Despite a 22 1/2-foot alley between the diner and the Italian Kitchen, the fire spread.
“We fought diligently, for well over an hour,” Westlake said. “And then we ran out of water supply.”
At that point, a man at the news conference started to clap and others joined. The man was Ron Carmona, owner of the Italian Kitchen, a restaurant lost in the fire.
The fire was still burning Wednesday afternoon, Westlake said.
A woman fleeing an apartment told deputies she plugged in a charging device to an outlet around 3 p.m., Thompson said. When the woman returned later she noticed the device was smoking, gathered her kids and fled, Thompson said. It was a large charging unit like the types used for camping to power larger appliances such as a TV, Westlake said.
The fire knocked out the “heart” of the village, said Ovid Mayor Aaron Roisen.
“It’s what so many people rely on, day to day. It services hundreds, if not thousands, of people in the area,” Roisen said.
Roisen called the businesses a “social hub,” saying that people would often have meetings at the Italian Kitchen or Big M.
“It won’t ever be the same. It’ll be different, but we’ll move through it,” he said. “Ovid always does.”
The Main Street fire is just one of four that department fought within 24 hours, Westlake said. They also fought a house fire in Willard and provided mutual aide to another agency, he said.
At the start of the press conference, Westlake apologized for his appearance, saying he had just come from the fire in Willard.
Firefighters could be at the Main Street fire for several days, Westlake said.
“We have to finish putting out the fire before we can even discuss ‘how do we get rid of this?’” Westlake said.
Staff writer Rylee Kirk covers breaking news, crime and public safety. Have a tip, story idea, photo, question or comment? Reach her at 315-396-5961, on Twitter @kirk_rylee, or [email protected].
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