Crime & Safety
Briarcliff Building Demolished After Fire
Several area departments aided Briarcliff Manor in putting out a fire at a nursing home building.
Update, 2:15 a.m. (View above video):
Briarcliff Manor Fire Chief Michael King said electrical issues following Thursday evening's storms may have caused the Elant at Brandywine Nursing Home and Rehabilitation Center maintenance building to catch fire.
The building, unoccupied at the time, has been condemned for several years, King stated.
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He added it appears there may have been squatters using the building since it has been condemned, but there were no occupants inside during the fire.
Given the state of the building, King said it was not safe for the volunteer firefighters to enter the building, so it was demolished.
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"I'm not going to put my men inside it, so we had to take it apart," he said.
An excavator was brought onto the scene at approximately 1 a.m. As of 1:30 a.m., King said he had been told it might take until 8 a.m. Friday for the building to be completely demolished.
The nursing home's residents were unaffected by the fire, the chief said.
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Original Story:
Firefighters from all over northern Westchester fought a fire at Brandywine Nursing Home on Sleepy Hollow Road this evening.
The blaze destroyed a maintenance building, but no residents had to be evacuated.
Water pressure was the biggest issue, said Jay White, deputy chief of the Briarcliff Manor Fire Department. Firefighters set up two wading-pool-sized reservoirs at the intersection of Sleepy Hollow Road and the nursing home's driveway and a pumper truck halfway up the hill for the hoses.
"It's not a huge fire, but the thing is there's no water pressure up there," said White.
Nine departments responded after the call came in at about 8:30 p.m., including Briarcliff, Croton, Archville, Ossining, Millwood and Pocantico Hills, Sleepy Hollow, Pleasantville and Chappaqua. The blaze was knocked down before 10 p.m.
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