Syracuse Sun

Syracuse, NY-  On May 22, 2023, at 7:31 p.m., Syracuse Firefighters were alerted by the Onondaga County 911 center to a possible fire at 216 Shonnard Street. Firefighters from Station 6 (West Street) arrived on the scene just over two minutes later and found smoke and fire coming from the windows on the side of the two-and-a-half-story building. The structure was known to be vacant and appeared from the outside to be in disrepair. However, callers reported seeing people flee the building before the fire department arrived. Faced with reports of the possibility of more people trapped inside the structure, an aggressive interior fire attack was initiated.

Teams stretched hoses into the building while others mounted searches of both floors. Firefighters had to contend with holes in the floors and stairs inside, clutter, and debris as they made their way to a rear first-floor bedroom to extinguish the fire. The fire was contained to the room of origin. Although searches for trapped occupants were negative, a cat was rescued from the smoke and flames.

The fire was extinguished in approximately 10 minutes. The house sustained fire, smoke, and water damage to the first floor. Syracuse Fire Investigators determined the fire began in a bedroom on the first floor; the cause is still under investigation. There were no injuries reported to civilians or to fire personnel.

A total of 35 firefighters responded to this fire, including command and support staff. Syracuse Police, National Grid, and American Medical Response also responded to the scene. We thank our partners at Onondaga County 911, SPD, National Grid, and AMR.

Original source can be found here.