The Fire and its Aftermath
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following are excerpts from two upstate New York newspapers:
Efforts
Hampered, Firefighters could not save Gainesville home
By
Robert Lowell Goller
A
monstrous blaze ripped through a Shearing Road home in Gainesville
Tuesday afternoon , and firefighters could do little to stop it.
The
house, located some 1,500 feet from the road, was a total loss in the
blaze, which occurred shortly after 4 p.m., firefighters say.
The house, the home of the Barber family at 5015 Shearing Road, was
located down a narrow driveway that included a
small bridge over a creek that no fire truck could safely cross. That
delayed fire-fighting efforts by almost a half-hour. Firefighters from
area departments busily pumped water out of trucks at the road and sent
it down hoses to the house. They also had to deal with bone chilling
cold as temperatures dipped into the single digits.
The
American Red Cross was housing the Barber family early this week.
…reprinted
from the Warsaw’s Country Courier, Thursday, January 27, 2000 Firefighters
hampered by location of burning house in Gainesville By
Scott M. Vrooman Sr.
Tina
Barber could only throw up her hands in frustration Tuesday as she
watched her house at 5015 Shearing Rd. burn to the ground.
The
house sits well back off Shearing Road, down a path and over a bridge
that crosses the East Koy Creek. The problem Tuesday was that the
large-sized firetrucks on the scene could not cross the bridge without
danger of getting stuck and injuring people and damaging equipment…
Firefighters
from seven companies arrived at the scene, but could do little more than
offer damage control assistance during the first half hour.
Volunteers,
state police and sheriff’s deputies moved a parked van out of harm’s
way, removed a propane tank grill from the fire’s edge and rescued a
kitten that got too close to the blaze.
….A
call went out for the mini-pumper from Perry Center, because it would be
the size needed to get across the bridge, officials said.
“Can’t
you do anything?” Barber asked the volunteers and police officers
standing with her.
…..Instead
of waiting helplessly, firefighters were able to bring down tow lines by
pickup truck, and began to battle the fire a half hour after it began.
“The
house was a total loss,” Reger (county fire coordinator) said… Reprinted from the Daily News, January 26, 2000 |
