City of Olean Fire Department
109 South Sixteenth Street Structure Fire
On Saturday, May 21st at 1:43 AM, City of Olean Firefighters were alerted to a structure fire with explosion and possible entrapment at 109 South Sixteenth Street in the City of Olean. Crews arrived three minutes later to discover a working structure fire with an exposure structure, the rear of 1619 West State Street, involved as well.
Crews immediately deployed two fire attack handlines which extinguished the exposure fire and initiated an initial attack on the first structure. Crews immediately began primary searches of the first and second floors which resulted in no one being at the residence. A third alarm was initiated which brought Allegany and Weston’s Mills Fire Departments and Allegany Rescue and EMS in to standby for the City. Portville Fire Department’s Air Truck was dispatched to the scene along with Trans Am Ambulance and Cattaraugus County’s Deputy 4 Coordinator. Weston’s Mills Firefighters were later brought to the scene to provide relief for City of Olean Firefighters.
The fire was deemed under control at 2:15 AM at which time overhaul and salvage operations began. The fire was deemed extinguished at 2:45 AM at which time the City of Olean Fire Investigation Team and City of Olean Police began investigating the cause of the fire which has been deemed suspicious.
Damage to 109 South Sixteenth Street is estimated at $22,000 and damage to 1619 West State is estimated at $3,000. The structure was boarded up and is set to be posted by City of Olean Code Enforcement. Displaced residents are believed to be staying with family members.
The City of Olean Fire Department was assisted by National Grid and NYSEG who disconnected the utilities. The Town of Olean Fire Department stood by after the Weston’s Mills Fire Department was called to the scene. The City of Olean Fire Department responded with two engines, one ladder truck, two ambulances and sixteen firefighters. No injuries were reported to first responders or civilians. All units cleared the scene at 5:00 AM.
Chief Richardson
