Pretty much everything that was left of the apartment building at 26 Maple St., Batavia, which burned down Friday, was hauled away by work crews today.
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could anyone tell me the last
could anyone tell me the last time this paid fire department has saved a structure?
No class there Dennis.
No class there Dennis.
2 negative votes doesn't
2 negative votes doesn't answer the question.
Dennis, are you or have you
Dennis, are you or have you ever been a firefighter volunteer or otherwise?
While worded poorly I do
While worded poorly I do believe Dennis has a legitimate question.
It's a loaded, baited
It's a loaded, baited question and meant to illicit only one response.
However, without research -- I can remember two fires last year where FD responses within minutes certainly saved the structure ... one was a dryer fire and the other was a fire on East Avenue.
The question also ignores the fact that the apartment was already on fire before the 911 call was even placed, as we previously reported.
It also ignores the fact that the fire was contained to the second floor. The first floor remained structurally sound, meaning it's arguable that it wasn't even necessary to demo the building. That was the owner's choice, not a requirement of the city.
And I'm not even taking a position on whether there should be a paid or volunteer department in the city, just arguing the gross unfairness of the question.
My structure was saved and
My structure was saved and eventually rebuilt thanks to Batavia Fire Dept. Although having structures torn down is not great, no lost lives I feel is much more important. Sometimes the fire is to involved to save the structure. It is my opinion you walk in the boots of our trained paid and volunteer firefighters before you take pot shots at them while sitting behind a computer.
Also Howard, a large part of
Also Howard, a large part of a fire departments responsibilty is to protect nieghboring builings from extention (The Fire spreading Next Door)
Most of the homes in Batavia are old 1900-1920 construction, basically kindling wood on a foundation. I can't think of very many cases in Batavia where fires significantly damaged adjacent buildings, largely because of the rapid response from BFD.
I monitor the Genesee 911 center calls often, the Batavia Fire Department has an exceptional response time.
a few years ago I had an overheated junction box in my bathroom the walls were so hot couldn't touch them, The Batavia fire department was there 3 minutes after my 911 call at 11 PM at night, They're fast response kept the inner wall from catching fire which was probably only minutes in my future.
The East Avenue
The East Avenue fire:
http://thebatavian.com/blogs/billie-owens/house-fire-reported-east-aven…
James Street fire:
http://thebatavian.com/blogs/howard-owens/possible-structure-fire-repor…
There was also this fire in 2009
http://thebatavian.com/blogs/howard-owens/family-dog-fine-following-min…
BTW: In looking for these links, I found plenty of examples of volunteer fire departments mounting rapid responses to save property and lives.
If you want to make a case against a paid fire department, response times is a non-starter of an issue. Both types of departments do well, and both have cases where no response can be -- including in this case -- quick enough under the circumstances.
An interesting comparison /
An interesting comparison / contrast is the Swan Street fires of May 2010, when an early spotting of the fire and a rapid response saved the Wiard Plow factory building
http://thebatavian.com/blogs/howard-owens/swan-street-fire-caught-early…
However, the arsonists returned later that night, used accelerant and the fire spread quickly before it was spotted ... so no matter how fast the response, not much could be done ... except a heroic job of saving the rest of the buildings.
http://thebatavian.com/blogs/howard-owens/photos-old-wiard-plow-factory…
Howard we are blessed with
Howard we are blessed with great and very well prepared Fire Departments in this county, both professional and volunteer.
On the subject of paid vs volunteer, myself, because of the relative close positioning of homes in the city vs the generally larger distances between homes in the towns, a paid FD is a better choice in the city proper, in no way does that diminish volunteer departments. Response time in the city proper is a big issue, again response time for most our volunteer departments in the area sees to be exceptional as well.
A hundred and twelve years
A hundred and twelve years ago it took a crew of men four or more months to build that house. Now, two days to clear away the rubble from the city lot where it once stood.
One hundred and twelve Christmases, one hundred and twelve years of people calling 26 Maple home. The story behind the pictures.
you're right, Howard. I was
you're right, Howard. I was going for the volunteer or paid firefighter debate. Do you know how the fire depts will be affected if the town and city consolidate?
There's more to the history
There's more to the history than that, Brenda. Before it was an apartment building, it was a corner market, a place where that part of the community gathered and crossed paths and shared stories, no doubt.
Dennis, the proposed combined
Dennis, the proposed combined city would have two tax structures -- inner city and outer (the current city, the current town). The inner would have the current level of police and fire protection. The outer, the town, would continue to contract with its volunteer departments.
As I recall, the wiard plow
As I recall, the wiard plow fire could have easily turned into a huge fire, the wind was howling that day, not sure, but I would guess over 30 mph. I remember thinking the whole complex would catch fire due to the wind.
BFD did a super job to contain the fire to the wiard building only.
It was high wind, and not
It was high wind, and not that it matters much but something I forgot until I looked back at my pictures -- it also started to snow about the time the fire was nearly knocked out -- and this was in early May.
While Batavia FD was first on scene and in command, several volunteer departments also responded, so they deserve credit as well.
The factory is a huge complex and only about 1/4 of it was destroyed in the fire, and there was a deliberate strategy to contain the fire to just those sections that were ultimately lost.