STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — A vacant warehouse on the Mount Loretto grounds in Pleasant Plains was left with a collapsed roof after a four-alarm fire drew hundreds of New York City firefighters and medics to the South Shore of Staten Island on Saturday evening.
The FDNY logged the first call for the fire on Hylan Boulevard at 5:42 p.m. The burning building sits well off the road, at least 900 feet back from Hylan Boulevard, behind the property’s historic church of Saints Joachim and Anne. By roughly 6:35 p.m. the response had been raised to a fourth alarm, a level reserved for severe, large-scale emergencies.
The warehouse was a two-story commercial structure that stood empty at the time. FDNY Chief of Operations Kevin Woods put the response at more than 200 firefighters and EMS personnel and said the building took very heavy damage before its roof gave way.
Crews ran into trouble getting enough water early in the fight. Woods said firefighters had to relay extra water from Hylan Boulevard to reach the blaze set deep on the property. One firefighter suffered a minor burn to the leg, according to the chief.
The cause had not been determined Saturday night, the FDNY said. Woods said a crew of 30 to 50 firefighters would stay through the night to keep soaking hot spots and watch the site.
Drivers felt the effects too. Hylan Boulevard was shut between Sharrott Avenue and Richard Avenue during the response, with a reopening expected around 9:30 p.m.
Mount Loretto is a busy campus beyond the old warehouse. A preschool, a senior club, a CYO community center, Catholic Charities offices and South Richmond High School all share the grounds. No damage to those buildings was reported.
Section: More New York NY crime news
Filed under: New York NY Public Safety News
