Deputy fire chief says that without extra help, the building would have burned to the ground.
Firefighters work at 248 W. Lafayette Ave. in Syracuse after a fire there was extinguished. Deputy Chief Ed Kurtz said extra fire crews may have saved the house from burning to the ground.
Two families escaped a fire this morning at 248 W. Lafayette Ave. in Syracuse.Syracuse, NY -- Seven people escaped this morning from a smoky fire that, according to a deputy fire chief, came within moments of destroying their two-family home.
A caller on a cell phone made the initial call about 5:55 a.m. to Onondaga County E-911.
Firefighters arriving at 248 W. Lafayette Ave. found the two families who occupied the wood-frame building safe outdoors. Black smoke was pouring from the windows and seams of the house. Deputy Chief Ed Kurtz said extra fire crews were called in.
That may have saved the house, Kurtz said. He said he was concerned for firefighters' safety and was about to pull them back when an extra hose company started pouring water on the main body of fire. The fire was brought under control from that point.
"If we didn't have that large a contingent, this building would have burned to the ground," Kurtz said.
One of the two adults in a family of five in the first floor flat discovered the fire in an unused back room and alerted the other occupants, including the adult and child living in the upstairs unit, Kurtz said. Their names were not available. The Red Cross was at the scene to lend them aid.
The blaze charred the northwest corner of the house and caused electrical damage, and firefighters chopped a large hole in the roof to vent smoke. The building also took extensive water damage. It should be savable nonetheless, Kurtz said,
The fire also was hot enough to melt vinyl siding on the house next door. Kurtz said firefighters sprayed that building, too, to keep it safe.