A Residential Fire Alarm is credited with notifying the Croton-on-Hudson Fire Department of an actual fire in the home this past Monday.

At 11:32 AM, the CFD was dispatched to 3 Hollis Lane in the Mount Airy Fire Protection District in Cortlandt. Car 2082 (Mansfield) arrived and reported smoke in the house and requested the assignment to be upgraded, bringing the balance of CFD units and 2 Mutual Aid Tankers to the scene.

Just short of 90 seconds later, Command requested the 10-75 assignment for a confirmed fire in the residence. This brought an additional Tanker, Engine and Ladder to the scene, as well as a FASTeam, Cascade unit and EMS to the scene.
Engine 118 and Tanker 10 arrived simultaneously and a crew of four immediately pulled a 2” pre-connected hose off E118 to the seat of the fire, located on the first floor. A second line from E118 was pulled to the garage and a third line went to the second floor from T10.

The fire on the first floor, which is believed to be caused by a dryer fire that extended , was quickly contained. Members began using Thermal Imagers and pike poles to open up walls and ceilings to check for hidden pockets of fire.

Meanwhile, personnel located fire in the attic space above the first floor fire and contained it before letting it extend into the adjacent master bedroom. The Engine Company from the Montrose VA FD took on the “Truck Company” role and shut down the utilities and vented the roof, clearing the smoke for members working inside. Additional personnel from E120, TL44, R18 & U14 assisted with opening up, removing burning debris and soaking down hot spots.

With a working fire hydrant in front of the house, the Mutual Aid Tankers were called off after the fire was under control. CFD personnel located the family’s pet Guinea Pigs and brought them outside, unharmed. Once the fire was extinguished, crews overhauled and did the best they could to preserve and protect as much of the family’s belongings as possible.

This fire highlights the value of having smoke alarms in a residence, and shows how much more advantageous it is to have them linked to an alarm monitoring company. Without this, we are confident this fire would have been much, much worse.

A response of three dozen Croton FD volunteers answered this call, with an additional 20 or so firefighters from our Mutual Aid companies. During this incident, an Engine Company from Montrose (E121), Ladder Company from Somers (TL18) and Tanker from Bedford Hills (T5) provided coverage in Croton from the Harmon Firehouse. These units responded to an additional fire alarm during this time, which proved to be a false activation.

All CFD units were clear of the scene at 3:00 PM. One firefighter was treated for exhaustion on scene but declined transport to a hospital.

A "Go Fund Me" account has been set up to support the family who lives at this home. Please consider making a donation at the attached link.