Canton PD Sergeant Loses Home To Fire

The quiet Friday morning was interrupted at 1137 by the wail of the fire siren as the tones dropped for Canton Fire and Rescue to respond to a chimney fire at the home of Canton PD Sergeant Jim Santimaw, 43 State Street. Second Assistant Chief Erik Johnson arrived within minutes to find moderate smoke pushing from the roof and gable vents. The home owner advised that flames were visible on the second floor where the house joins to a newer light construction addition and that the house had been evacuated including the pets. The older portion of the house, a story and a half balloon type construction, (circa late 1800's) had heavy fire in the attic area and flames were gaining a good foothold in the light construction addition. Assistant Chief Johnson request mutual aid from Morley Fire, Pyrites Fire and Rennselear Falls Fire for SCBA personnel, knowing that this was going to be an all hands fire. Engine 7 arrived with a full crew and quickly stretched their pre-connects, with assistance of CPD Patrolman Jim Stone. Members hand laid 250' of 5" LDH back up State Street to the hydrant in front of the St. Mary's Rectory. Running on tank water provided by Engine 7's operator William McCluskey, crews made quick entry into the house with the first line and advanced to the second floor in search of the seat of the fire in spite of heavy smoke conditions on both the first and second floors. The second line was stretched to the B side of the house to knock down the fire in the addition. Early on crews were faced with high heat conditions and near zero visibility. Tower 1 arrived to set up for ventilation and the roof was laddered to cut the vent the center of the house near the chimney. Ventilation was especially difficult as roof crews ran into multiple roof layers of shingles and old plank. The type of construction and numerous remodels over the years made it equally as difficult to open up inside the structure as multiple ceiling and wall layers were found throughout the house. Firefighters were able to locate the pockets of fire that developed within the walls and void spaces in the oldest portion of the house.
Additional mutual aid resources were requested to provide relief for the firefighters involved in the labor intensive extinguishment, salvage, and overhaul operation. Potsdam Fire was called for SCBA personnel and Rescue 14 with its cascade system. Interior firefighters were requested Pierrepont Fire, Madrid Fire, West Potsdam Fire, and Gouverneur Fire with Gouverneur providing a standby at Canton Station as well. In all about one hundred firefighters were involved in this fire, either on scene or on standby. Canton Rescue staffed two ambulances on scene while the third was staffed at the station. Additional EMS coverage was provided by Rennselear Falls Rescue. One firefighter was transported to Canton Potsdam Hospital with a muscle pull. All Canton units were back in service at 1719 hours . The Canton Fire Department would like to thank all the departments and firefighters involved in assisting us at this fire. Our heartfelt condolences go out to our fellow public servant Sergeant Santimaw and his family for their devastating loss.