Crime & Safety

Early Morning Ossining Heavy Blaze Knocked Down

Briarcliff Manor's Fire Department was among the first responders.

A predawn fire in an Ossining two-story multi-family has been extinguished with no injuries, officials report.

Ossining Fire Chief Jason Lorenz confirmed that the two-unit home at number 2 and 4 Overton Road was unoccupied. The building was under renovations. Officials are investigating what started the fire that left major damages but did not destroy the home.

When his crew arrived around 4:30 a.m., Lorenz said the "whole house was full of smoke." They made an "interior attack" but found a "heavy fire load in the stairwells" which made them unable to access the second floor. So the crews got on the roof, opened up the attic, and knocked out windows, ultimately pushing the fire out through rear upper windows. 

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A neighbor, Linda, said she awoke to the sound of sirens far away. Within minutes, her area was teeming with volunteer firefighters and trucks.

The “house was fully engulfed, with flames coming out the windows and roof,” Linda, who didn't want to give her last name, told Patch this morning.

Find out what's happening in Pleasantville-Briarcliff Manorwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

By 6:10 a.m., there were around eight engines on the scene, along with Ossining Volunteer Ambulance Corps at the ready. Both sides of nearby Wolden Road were full of emergency responders’ parked cars. 

Lorenz said about 65 firefighters were at the scene, with crews from Croton and Briarcliff with Millwood and Sleepy Hollow on standby. 

They knew the house was unoccupied but still did a primary search of the residence to be sure, he said. "There were no injuries."

By 6:40 a.m. the fire was under control. When Linda went back out to check by the light of day, she noted one firefighter in his pajama bottoms, others shivering in their shirt sleeves.

Needless to say, she was impressed.

“Ossining's ALL volunteer fire fighters are the best of the best,” Linda said. “To be pulled out of bed to fight a fire, and help their neighbors well…it doesn't get any better than this. These VOLUNTEER firefighters, men and women, are stupendous! Looking at all of them earlier, some in shirt sleeves in the freezing temperature, brought tears to my eyes. They all made me extremely proud."

Lorenz said the scene was clear now but he and the building department would be back to do further inspections.


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