Fire crews in Jamestown, New York continue to monitor the scene of a massive fire that brought down a four-story building on Wednesday.
Fire crews in Jamestown are unsure as to what caused a blaze but said they will remain on the scene Wednesday and Thursday to ensure another fire does not spark. Around 11:22 a.m., fire crews received a call about a massive fire on the former Crawford Furniture on Allen Street.
The deputy fire chief said when crews arrived, they encountered heavy fire conditions in multiple areas that let them know the fire had been burning for a while.
“A portion of the building was constructed from brick. A portion of it was constructed from wood with metal roofs and some different building materials. It took our crews quite a while to get the fire under control and make sure it was contained where it wasn’t going to spread beyond where its area of origin was,” said Deputy Fire Chief Matthew Coon, Jamestown Fire Department.
The chief said a defense operation was set up to extinguish the fire due to heat and smoke conditions.
“A close building that was an exposure issue for us. That building did not sustain any damage but it is an adjacent building to this former factory complex,” added Coon.
According to officials, the vacant furniture facility has been a trouble spot for the area.
“I am aware that there have been some code enforcement issues with the building and our Department of Development has been working with the owner to get some of those issues resolved,” said Coon.
Coon told us the next steps and said crews will remain on the scene Wednesday and Thursday for a fire watch.
“We’re kind of repositioning the equipment a little bit, so we’ll be at all four corners. We’re going to try to get some heavy equipment to come down here to start pulling the building apart. It’s not safe to go in there and kind of walk around in the complex, especially where the portions that are still standing,” Coon said.
The fire chief said there are no reported injuries so far, and they have no reason to believe anyone was inside of the building at the time of the fire.
