A alarm for a structural fire was called for at Wagner Lumber on Gaskill Road in the Town of Owego New York that initially went out to Campville Fire Department who were dispatched at 3:23 a.m. Sunday morning. When firefighters arrived on scene, large flames were visible, with about one third of the more than 53,000-square-foot of the lumber yard in flames early Sunday morning. On arrival, fire crews also found heavy smoke and fire coming from the sawmill building in the center of the facility complex. A mutual-aid request was made for additional help to respond to the fire ground. Some 17 local area fire departments responded to the fire scene, which included Campville, Southside, Apalachin, Owego, Weltonville, Newark Valley, West Corners, Vestal, Little Meadows, Tioga Center, Berkshire, Richford, Candor, Nichols Fire Departments, and the Tioga County Fire Investigation Team.
The town of Maine Fire Department stood by at Newark Valley’s Fire Station to respond to any other calls that could have come in while these departments were on scene. Tioga Center was also on standby with their ambulance at Campville’s station to cover any EMS calls that came in, while the fire was extinguished.
Campville Fire Chief Mark Daniels reported that the operation was a defensive attack only, meaning no interior fire operations took place.
“My best guess is that 90 percent of the equipment, that’s pretty specialized manufacturing equipment in the mill, is a total loss,” said Steve Schaeffer, Vice President of Wagner Companies, who owns Wagner Lumber, where the fire was located.
“Mutual aid worked great,” said Tioga County Fire Coordinator John Scott, “all the crews performed well. They did a fantastic job.”
No one was injured in the fire and there is no initial or possible cause of fire yet, stated John Scott, Tioga County Fire Coordinator.
By 10 a.m. Sunday morning, the fire was under control and firefighting units were taking care of hot spots. Firefighters battled frigid temperatures and having enough water were the biggest issues with the fire. The fire was fought using water tankers from the local fire departments that transported & shuttled water to the fire from two different hydrant filling locations that were established off location from the fire scene.
(The usual disclaimers: I am not a journalist; This is a blog that expresses an outlook and is not conclusive in any shape or manner.)
(The usual disclaimers: I am not a journalist; This is a blog that expresses an outlook and is not conclusive in any shape or manner.)
