A leisurely afternoon of hose washing at the Canton Fire Station was interrupted when St. Lawrence County Central Dispatch activated the tones at 1432 hrs. for a mutual aid structure fire at 212 CR 25 in Russell. With the personnel at the station, Engine 6 was out of service at the alarm time with a full SCBA crew. Tanker 20 was close behind and Rescue 1 followed shortly thereafter with another large contigent of firefighters. Engine 6 made its way throught the heavy snowfall and blowing snow under the operation of Assistant Chief Robert Crowe and arrived on scene at 1445 hrs, shortly ofter Russell's Engine 104 arrived. The crew from Engine 6 immediately began assisting Russell personnel stretch handlines up the long unplowed driveway to the residence which was fully involved in fire. The crew form Tanker 20 assisted Russell in stetting up their dumptank and then dumped the first load of water. In an obvious defensive operation, members from the two departments knocked down the bulk of the fire and protected exposures before running in to water supply problems. Engines from Pyrites and Hermon both froze up in the sub-zero temperatures at the draft site. When one of the engines was freed up and able to draft it was determined the the dry hydrant was frozen and a hole had to be chopped in the ice in order to gain access to the water supply a mile from the fire scene. Because of the tight water supply and the essential total loss of the structure, Engine 6 was not pressed into service to flow water and all hose lines were taken off Russell Engine 104. Rescue 1 arrived with more personnel and members performed an extensive overhaul of the structure to seek out and extinguish hot spots and assist investigators gain access to parts of the building. The fire is being investigated by members of the St. Lawrence County Fire Investigation Team including Car 18 Jerome Wilson, Car 33 Paul Hull, Car 30 Joe Lacks, as well as investigator trainees Christian Ehrhardt and William Russell. Twenty-five Canton Fire members turned out for the mid-afternoon alarm and all Canton units were back in service at 1840 hrs. The residents, Tim and Lisa Powers were not home at the time of the fire and there were no civilian casualties. One firefighter suffered a puncture wound to the hand that was treated with first aid.
Units:
Engine 6 (Asst. Chief Robert Crowe)
Rescue 1 (FF Wayne Stripp)
Tanker 20 (Past Chief William Bennett)
Mutual Aid:
Given to Russell Fire;
Other Departments Responding: Hermon Fire, Pyrites Fire, SLC Fire Investigation Team
FF Brian McCluskey and FF Steve DeSantis staff a handline during overhaul operations. (Joe Lacks photo)
Members operating at sturcture fire, CR 25 in Russell. (Joe Lacks photo)
The remains of the house are shrouded in smoke as member engage in extinguishment and overhaul operations. (Joe Lacks photo)
Mutual Aid FF Travis Brockway (St. Regis Falls Fire) with a layer of ice on him. (Joe Lacks photo)
FF P.J. Williams Overhaulin'! (Joe Lacks photo)
Fire Investigator Trainees FF William Russell and Mutual Aid FF Christian Ehrhardt (Manhasset-Lakeville Fire) learning the trade with Safety Officer Matt Miller in the background overseeing the scene . (Joe Lacks photo)
FF Rob Larrabee and Mutual Aid FF Ryan McCuin (Brasher-Winthrop Fire) work on pulling down whats is left of the structure. (Joe Lacks photo)
Engine 6 preparing to make the 11 mile trip back to quarters, chauffered by Assistant Chief Crowe. (Joe Lacks photo)
