STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — An empty warehouse on the Mount Loretto grounds in Pleasant Plains was left with a caved-in roof Saturday night after a four-alarm fire that pulled more than 200 FDNY firefighters and EMS workers to the South Shore of Staten Island in New York City.
The first call came in at 5:42 p.m. for a fire near Hylan Boulevard and Loretto Street. The two-story building sits well back from the road, roughly 900 feet in, in back of the old St. Joachim and St. Anne church building. The blaze went to a fourth alarm at about 6:35 p.m.
Kevin Woods, the FDNY chief of operations, said crews found the whole structure burning when they got there. Early on they struggled to get enough water and had to run extra supply lines in from Hylan Boulevard. With the roof down and the remaining walls unsteady, commanders set up a collapse zone around the building.
One firefighter was treated for a minor burn to the leg. Firefighters kept the flames from reaching any other building on the campus, where a church, a senior center and two schools also stand. Officials said none of those buildings was affected, and no one else was reported hurt.
The warehouse had sat empty for at least five years and was already slated for demolition, according to the head of the charity that oversees the property, who thanked first responders and said the group is cooperating with investigators.
Hylan Boulevard was shut between Sharrott Avenue and Richard Avenue during the response. Some 30 to 50 firefighters planned to stay through the night to watch for hot spots. Fire marshals are looking into what started the fire.
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Filed under: New York NY Public Safety News