Massive fire tears through abandoned textile building in West Haverstraw
Firefighters were dispatched to the scene around 11:20 a.m. and arrived to find heavy fire showing from multiple sides of the building, according to West Haverstraw Fire Department First Assistant Chief Michael Fenner.
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An abandoned industrial building was declared a total loss after a major fire burned for hours in West Haverstraw, drawing a large mutual aid response and forcing crews into a defensive operation.
Firefighters were dispatched to the scene around 11:20 a.m. and arrived to find heavy fire showing from multiple sides of the building, according to West Haverstraw Fire Department First Assistant Chief Michael Fenner.
“Upon arrival, we had heavy fire showing from multiple sides of the building,” Fenner said. “We called for the signal 12 right away, which is a working fire, and went defensive.”
Fenner said the building was an abandoned textile facility known as the former TEMCO building, which has been closed for years and was not occupied at the time of the fire.
“It’s an old textile facility that’s been closed down for a long time,” he said. “Nobody’s been inside of this thing for a while.”
The structure spans roughly 300 feet by about 60 to 70 feet, a size Fenner compared to a football field.
“The building was definitely mostly involved,” Fenner said. “It’s a total loss.”
Because of the age and condition of the building, crews did not enter the structure.
“We weren’t risking anybody’s safety to go inside,” Fenner said. “We went defensive right off the bat.”
Fenner said portions of the building experienced multiple collapses during the fire, including one wall that came down while crews were operating.
Firefighters focused on protecting nearby homes, with multiple crews assigned to exposure protection. Fenner said no surrounding structures were damaged.
A total of 75 firefighters from West Haverstraw and seven mutual aid companies responded. Crews remained on scene for more than two and a half hours and were still working to extinguish hot spots.
“At this point now the fire has been knocked down pretty well,” Fenner said. “We’re just checking multiple hot spots, and the status is stable.”
Fenner praised the response effort.
“I’m proud of my guys,” he said. “Everybody did a great job. It was a great team effort.”
No injuries were reported. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
