One Person Injured in East Laurel Street Blaze
Published on April 23, 2024
On Tuesday, April 23, 2024, at 1:54 a.m., Syracuse Firefighters were alerted by the Onondaga County 911 Center to a report of smoke in the area at East Laurel Street and South Alvord Street. The caller reported seeing smoke coming from a building there. Firefighters from Station 2, on Lodi Street, arrived on the scene at 744 East Laurel Street just over one minute later. When they arrived, Firefighters found a one-story home with heavy black smoke coming from the eaves of the roof. A signal ‘99’ was transmitted, indicating a working fire.
As additional units arrived on the scene, crews worked to gain entry to the heavily boarded up building. Firefighters performing a walk around the structure found flames in the rear of the building. At the same time, a separate group of firefighters arriving at the scene encountered an injured patient on the sidewalk, who reported that he had been inside the building. As teams of firefighters worked to remove boards from doors and windows, another group of firefighters started patient care for the injured civilian, eventually transferring care to ambulance personnel on scene.
Crews sprayed water into the building where they could, to try to quell the flames while teams of firefighters used hand tools and power saws to remove the boards. Firefighters eventually made access to the front of the building only to discover their path to the rear, where the main body of fire was located, was blocked. Crews moved to an outside operation and sprayed water from the exterior while the remaining doors and windows were opened. Once full access was gained crews moved inside to extinguish the flames and perform searches for trapped victims. Despite initial reports that there may be additional people inside, all searches proved negative.
The fire was brought under control and declared out after approximately 60 minutes. The home, which was known to be vacant when the fire occurred, sustained heavy fire, smoke, and water damage to the first floor and attic areas. Syracuse Fire Investigators were at the scene working to determine the origin and cause of the fire; that investigation is ongoing. One civilian was transported to a local hospital for burn injuries to their extremities. Their injuries are not considered life-threatening. There were no injuries reported to fire department personnel.
A total of 43 Fire Department personnel responded to this incident, including command and support staff. Syracuse Fire Department Ambulance, Syracuse Police, American Medical Response, National Grid, and the American Red Cross also responded to the scene. We thank our partners at the 911 Center, SPD, AMR, National Grid, and the Red Cross.