‘WE’RE NOT GOING TO LET THE BLOCK BURN DOWN’
Three-alarm fire damages Ester Wine and Spirits on North Front Street
A shortage of available personnel delayed city firefighters’ response to a three-alarm blaze Wednesday night at Ester Wine and Spirits, but the fire was contained and there were no serious injuries or irreparable damage, fire Chief Chris Rea said Thursday.
Four of the city’s 10 firefighters who were on duty Wednesday night responded within two minutes to the 10:20 p.m. automatic alarm from the Front Street Tavern at 63 N. Front St., but quickly realized the actual fire was at 57 N. Front St., Rea said. Two of the city’s engines were tied up on emergency medical calls at the time and could not immediately break away, he said.
“At the onset of suppression efforts we had four firefighters doing suppression efforts of the 10 on duty,” Rea said. “But the personnel there did exactly what I expected them to do and exactly what the citizens expected them to do. … They went about their business.”
Stone Ridge and Ulster Hose assisted at the scene and Port Ewen and Esopus were on standby in quarters because “there was a big potential there” for a more serious blaze, Rea said. The adjoining structures are all old, “there’s a lot of wood there” and extra precautions were needed, he said. “We’re not going to let the block burn down. We’re going to stop it and we had the manpower now to throw at it.”
Rea said that because there was “a potential to lose a portion of the block” Deputy Chief James Brunner skipped a second alarm and went directly to a third.
A total of about 40 firefighters, including a portion of the department’s off-duty staff, returned to fight the fire. “We had a good turnout … and everything was wrapped up by about 3 in the morning,” Rea said.
The blaze originated in an attic above the storefront and, because of “treacherous” conditions behind the building “with a bank that drops right down — you can
see it from Schwenk Drive — you don’t go out there at night much,” they immediately put ladders up and gained access through a front window, he said. The fire was in an uninhabited space and the liquor store was closed, he said.
Firefighters evacuated Snapper Magee’s bar next door and an adjoining three-story building with apartments, Rea said. He said all of the evacuations were “precautionary.”
The liquor store facade, attic and roof are “all heavily damaged by fire” and there was “heavy water damage to the building of origin and to Snapper’s” and smoke damage to Front Street Tavern. The chief said the liquor store will probably not reopen Thursday and, depending on when electricity is restored and the extent of damage to the water main and electrical system, Snapper Magee’s may also not immediately reopen.
Tenants of the adjoining apartments were allowed to return home on Wednesday night, Rea said.
One woman was injured after slipping and falling while leaving the building. She was treated on the scene and taken to HealthAlliance Hospital, Rea said.