| At 13:33, Canton Fire and other neighboring departments were requested by Rensselaer Falls for mutual aid to a structure fire with possible entrapment. The initial report was a multiple occupancy brick building with smoke and visible flames. Engine 8, (Chief Cary), Tower 1 (Chief McGregor), Rescue 1 (Past Chief Morgan) and TA 20 (FF Grandaw) were enroute within minutes with full crews. On arrival, Rensselaer Falls Chief Dallas Denney (Incident Command) directed Tower 1 and Engine 8 to position for aerial operations. Canton Fire personnel, along with RFFD Engine 51, established draft to supply water to Engine 8 and Tower 1.
RFFD Engine 52 was the initial attack engine and had confirmed that all occupants were out of the building and had been accounted for. Given that information, and the fire conditions present, the incident commander (Chief Denny) made the decision to swith to a defensive operation.. Tower 1, and Quint 1 from Ogdensburg City Fire, began their aerial master stream attack to knock out the bulk of the fire from above. With the heavy fire load, the interior wood structure began to burn away causing the brick facade of the building to weaken and begin to fall. Firefighters on the ground quickly taped off the area to keep anyone from walking where the bricks and debris were falling.
As there is no hydrant system in Rensselaer Falls a tanker shuttle had to be established, with tankers from Rensselaer Falls, Canton, Morley, and DeKalb providing water supply to feed Engine 52. DeKalb Fire had draft set on County Route 15 as a fill site for the tankers. Heuvelton Fire provided manpower and draft to feed Q1 along with Tanker 10, the Super Tanker from Lisbon Fire. Fire Departments were on scene for nearly 7 hours battling this blaze. Rensselaer Falls Fire responded with mutual aid from Canton Fire, Morley Fire, Lisbon Fire, Heuvelton Fire, DeKalb Fire and Ogdensburg City Fire. Backfills were provided by Morristown Fire, Potsdam Fire, West Potsdam Fire, and Odgensburg Fire off duty personnel. The St. Lawrence County Sheriff's Office, St. Lawrence County Fire Investigation Team , NYS Police, Rennselaer Falls Rescue, and Canton Rescue responded as well. All Canton units were back in service at 19:07. Canton Fire responded with 27 members. |
