Ogdensburg, NY, Councilor Calls for Education on Abandoned Building Fires
By Matt Curatolo
Source Watertown Daily Times, N.Y.
May 5—OGDENSBURG — Following a fire at an abandoned warehouse that sent one person to the hospital, the Ogdensburg City Council wants to hear what can be done to prevent this from happening again.
On Monday, Councilor Jennifer Stevenson asked for a presentation by city staff on what can be done to prevent what she called "unauthorized occupants" from using abandoned buildings such as the one on Riverside Drive that was destroyed by fire on April 24.
The warehouse, at the corner of Franklin Street, had been boarded up and was unfit for occupancy, according to fire officials. Firefighters rescued one person from the second story of the building using ladders. The victim was transported to Claxton-Hepburn Medical Center for treatment of burns and smoke inhalation.
"I would like to ask at our next City Council meeting we have an education, a presentation by codes on vacant buildings and unauthorized occupants. We had a fire recently in our community that was pretty large and it could have been a lot worse than what it was," Stevenson said. "We've had complaints from neighbors for quite some time about unauthorized occupancy in that building and they were exactly fearful of what happened. I know there are other buildings that have unauthorized occupants in them."
She said an educational presentation would be beneficial for the community.
"If we had a public education session, 10 to 15 minutes about that, about what codes can and cannot do, it would help our citizens understand better what can happen and what can't happen," she said.
City Manager Fonda Chronis said that staff will provide a presentation for its second meeting in May.
A state fire investigation team and Ogdensburg police are investigating the cause of the fire, which was reported as suspicious in nature.
In a previous report, City Fire Chief Kenneth Stull said that a defensive firefighting approach was used due to the deterioration of the building. Hand lines were used from the outside and aerial devices were used from above to combat the blaze. No firefighters were sent inside.
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