Saranac Lake sees Election Day blaze
SARANAC LAKE — A fire in the top floor of 155 Broadway displaced residents on Tuesday and took fire departments around an hour to knock down.
Saranac Lake Police Chief Darin Perrotte said all the residents got out safely. The cause of the fire is currently unknown. The fire was reported around 11 a.m. and by noon, firefighters said over the radio that they had knocked the flames down.
The Saranac Lake Volunteer Fire Department was on scene quickly, as the firehouse is only a couple hundred feet away. SLVFD First Assistant Chief Jim Stinson said the alarm sounded at 11:23 a.m. and firefighters arrived on scene at 11:24 a.m. They fought the fire for around and hour and were on scene until 2:55 p.m.
Flames could be seen rising on the back porch of the building, concerning neighbors about the fire spreading, and smoke rose from the windows in the attic.
Traffic was rerouted off of this portion of Broadway onto the side streets in the surrounding neighborhoods. The street was still closed as of 12:25 p.m.
The Lake Placid and Bloomingdale volunteer fire departments assisted in the firefight, and the Saranac Lake Volunteer Rescue Squad and village police attended, too. Stinson said there was no need for medical assistance at the scene.
Stinson said there is smoke and water damage throughout the building and in several apartments, as well as significant fire damage on the upper floor and attic. He said the tenants are not able to return to their homes currently, and they've been hooked up with the American Red Cross for assistance.
Stinson said SLVFD and and Franklin County are investigating the cause of the fire. So far, they have deemed it not suspicious.
The firefighters used approximately 20,000 to 25,000 gallons of water to extinguish the fire.
SLVFD also responded with their brand-new ladder truck, which was delivered two weeks ago. This was the first call for LT-144. Stinson mentioned that firefighters trained on the truck just this past weekend.
Sarah Curtis was returning from voting and smelled burning plastic at around 10:45 a.m. She thought a neighbor was burning trash again. When she left the house a couple minutes later to visit a friend, she heard crackling and saw the flames on the street-side corner of the back deck.
Curtis couldn't see anyone outside of the building yet, and no one else around. She's not sure if anyone else had seen or reported the fire. She called the police department on speed dial and ran down to the fire hall to tell them in person.
At the time, the fire was around the size of a campfire. Within moments, it was four times as big. After the fire department got there within 3 minutes, it was magnitudes larger, spreading to the roof and billowing black smoke.
Curtis said it was probably good she called the police first because they evacuated the tenants. She said the firefighters acted fast, and she was impressed with their "heroic" actions.
"I sure am grateful for those fast responders," Curtis said. "It was pretty dramatic."
"I'm astonished I was in the right place at the right time," she added
Curtis usually works on Tuesdays but had a random Tuesday off on Nov. 5. If she had voted at a different time, she might not have seen it as soon as she did.
Previously condemned
The building is currently owned by a company called Northern Holdings Group LLC. Earlier this year, it changed hands as former landlord Bob Decker started selling off his properties around the village after a fatal fire at his 11 Elm St. property. The 115 Broadway property sold to Northern Holdings Group on July 29 for $225,000.
The company has been doing repairs to the building in recent months.
Three of the seven apartments in this building were condemned by village Code Enforcement Officer Chris McClatchie in April. The problem with the three units he condemned — all street-facing apartments — is that there is no secondary means of egress — no alternate route out in the case of a fire.
"God forbid, if they ever had a fire ... they're not going to get out," McClatchie said at the time. "That was my biggest concern."
In April, McClatchie also found outdated smoke and carbon monoxide detectors throughout the building, as well as dangerous electrical wiring.
"A lot of the electrical is old and faulty with broken wires in the basement that still have power," he wrote.
The chance for fire was high in the building when he inspected it
McClatchie said that the heat at 155 Broadway was not functioning properly. A furnace in the basement was not running, according to residents, and Northern Holdings Group member Tyler Legault said it wasn't stocked with coal reliably before they took over the building.
McClatchie said the majority of apartments were being heated with oven doors open and broil on high when he did his inspection.
"How the place didn't catch fire already, I'll never know," McClatchie said in April.
Residents also described a mini-heater they were keeping warm with catching fire.
The building now has several new propane tanks outside. An open window of the roof gable, where the smoke was pouring out on Tuesday is a roosting place for birds and mammals.
McClatchie's inspection only came after the building changed hands and Northern Holdings Group allowed him into the property.
