Firefighters Face Early Morning Fire on Gertrude Street

Syracuse, NY- On Sunday, December 3, 2023, at 5:32 a.m., Syracuse Firefighters were alerted by the Onondaga County 911 Center to a reported structure fire at the corner of Gertrude Street and Fountain Street on the City’s Northeast side. Firefighters from Station 9, on Shuart Ave., arrived on the scene moments later to find a 2-story home at 225 Gertrude Street with heavy fire blowing out of boarded up windows on the first floor. A signal ‘99’ was transmitted.

 

The home was known to be vacant and had boards on all of the windows and doors on the front and sides of the building. As fire burned through the boards on the front porch, a team of firefighters from Ladder 4 worked to remove the boards in order move hoses into the home. A hose team from Engine 9 was able to extinguish a large amount of fire while the Ladder crew worked. Additional crews arrived on the scene and moved hoses into the first and second floor, extinguishing the large volume of fire as they went. Although the house was known to be vacant, other teams of firefighters worked to methodically search the structure for any trapped occupants. Searches were negative; there were no occupants in the building when firefighters arrived.

 

The fire was brought under control after approximately 20 minutes and firefighters began an extensive ‘overhaul’ operation, checking the rest of the building for any hidden fire spread. The fire was declared out after approximately 50 minutes. Syracuse Fire Investigators were on the scene working to determine the origin and cause of the fire, both of which are still under investigation. The first floor of the home sustained extensive fire, smoke, and water damage, with smoke and water damage throughout the rest of the structure. There were no injuries reported to civilians or to Fire Department personnel.

 

A total of 39 Fire Department personnel responded to this incident, including command and support staff. Syracuse Fire Department Ambulance, Syracuse Police, American Medical Response, and National Grid also responded to the scene. We thank our partners at SPD, AMR, and National Grid.