Firefighters save historic church as flames rip through Yonkers shops
YONKERS, N.Y. – More than a 100 firefighters battled smoke and flames in Yonkers that threatened to destroy a historic church.
The blaze broke out at a dollar store on 5 South Broadway just before 11 p.m. Thursday then spilled through at least two other commercial storefronts and was upgraded to a 5-alarm fire, according to Yonkers deputy fire chief Thomas Fitzpatrick.
"We did make an aggressive attack upon arrival but then we had to pull out our companies out because we weren't making much headway early in the fire," Fitzpatrick said. "We couldn't find it [and] we couldn't get to it."
Fitzpatrick said his team fought the fire from above the stores, either by climbing the ladders or going on nearby rooftops.
Amid the chaos, they successfully saved the more than 200-year-old St. John's Church from any significant fire damage.
"It's an icon in the city of Yonkers," Fitzpatrick said. "We kept the fire out of that church."
There were no reports of any injuries.
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
If you suspected you had bed bugs in your home, where would you most likely search for information first?
188-year-old church burns in NJ; illegal construction discovered
Fire consumes NJ church on New Year’s day
Dozens displaced after 5-alarm fire rips through Bayonne buildings
Wildfire flames along Southern California coast close highways, spur evacuations
Multi-alarm fire tears through Englewood church
Fire rips through row of homes, stores in Irvington
Hillsborough Township schools closed as massive warehouse fire burns
Officers catch 9-year-old girl after she jumps from burning home in Mahwah
Firefighters struggle to contain inferno that ravages warehouse in Hillsborough Township
Nine injured in early morning fire in Elmhurst, Queens
Five injured after fire tears through row of houses in Jersey City
Caught on camera: Hoverboard explodes in busy Texas mall
3 dead, including 2 children, after fire rips through Orange home