A fire in the basement of Main Street’s New Rochelle Variety Store was quickly extinguished by the fast-acting New Rochelle Fire Department, recognizing the potential for disaster. Shortly after 9 p.m. on Sunday, New Rochelle fire fighters received the emergency call and arrived within approximately three minutes at the four story building at 530 Main Street, saving the building and the commercial businesses located there. The merchant was present and able to give fire fighters quick basement access via a doorway.
Typical fires occurring at five and dime type retail stores can rapidly grow out of control due to the diverse types and volume of inventory within the building. Such stores carry a high volume of varied paper and plastic goods, petroleum based products and cleaning solutions, all which are highly flammable and toxic when burned. According to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), a simple living room fire can reach 2,000°F in less than three minutes.
According to an online listing, the New Rochelle Variety Store sells candy, lottery tickets, hats, luggage, handbags, clothing, shoes, plants and many more items.
“A fire in a neighborhood retail establishment can easily grow out of control and spread to other surrounding businesses and residences. It’s our job to make sure that doesn’t happen and to do so, we need available staff,” said Byron Gray, president of the New Rochelle Uniformed Fire Fighters Association. “Luckily this was not a situation where firefighters needed to cut down store security gates first to gain access to the fire. Such situations often add additional minutes before fire fighters can begin operations to extinguish the fire.”
Additionally, the high shelving systems used to display products in many retail establishments can add to a lack of visibility in fires with heavy smoke situations, while heavily stacked shelves run the risk of falling on emergency personnel and put intense weight on a structure’s floors once water is sprayed, raising the chance of a floor collapse. It’s why the fire fighters knew they had to work quickly.
Ironically, the City of New Rochelle created its professional fire department some 100 years ago in response to demands from merchants and the local chamber of commerce, fearful of not being able to control and quickly extinguish fires in the expanding city.
“Most people never anticipate having a fire in their home or business, but when it does happen, it is essential to have immediate and significant fire fighter staffing in order to avoid fires from growing out of control,” said Gray. “If the response was a minute or two later this fire would likely have doubled or tripled in size and ferocity. We don’t want to think about the damage that could cause.”