ARCADE, N.Y. — Fire crews in Arcade had to be called back to a large fire after spending several hours fighting the flames Tuesday night.
The fire was on Mill Street. A neighbor who lives nearby says the fire happened at the Finger Lakes Hay and Straw.
According to the Wyoming County Office of Emergency Services, crews were at the scene for nine and a half hours. In addition to the village water system, 12 fire department tankers were hauled to the scene to provide water to the two ladder trucks working to contain the fire. Additional heavy equipment was brought in to assist with putting the fire out.
All told, approximately 100 firefighters from 15 companies in three counties responded.
At least one of the buildings on the property was completely leveled by the fire.
The 31,000-square-foot commercial building had multiple tenants.
According to the son of the owner, they included a bitcoin mining company, a finishing shop, and custom wood milling firm.
Also lost in the fire were several cars, trucks, tractors, snowmobiles and dirt bikes.
The Arcade Fire Department reported that $1.5 million in damage was sustained.
Total devastation
"You come here and you watch your work go to hell....everything is gone" said a somber Gary Smith, the manager of Step by Step Custom Millworks, which makes stairs, custom moldings, and cabinetry among other items.
But now, at their busiest time of year, all their equipment, and lumber stock, has been destroyed.
Fire investigators were on the scene Wednesday, beginning thier probe into a cause.
'It felt like July'
"It was basically torch ends coming out of the sides of the building at the peak," said John Cope, who lives close enough to the building that he was worried the intense heat would melt the siding on his home.
Cope, who had moved is car to allow to a pumper truck to get down his driveway in order gain access to the building, said the fire made parts of the surrounding neighborhood feel like summer.
"Oh, absolutely. It's a big metal building, which acts like an oven trapping all that heat inside. It was 40 degrees outside, but here in the yard it was like 75. You could have been out here in shorts and a T-shirt. It was very intense."
"I think the building probably dates back to the early 60's at least," added Arcade Town and Village Historian Jeff Mason, who also noted the building had a history of fire.
"There was a business called DeVeer plastics and that burned I believe in 1967," he said. "Most people would associate the building with Mille Fabricators, which was here for a number of years.
It will all likely be part of Arcade's history now, as the building is pretty much a total loss.