Overnight fire destroys a former factory in Gloversville
GLOVERSVILLE, N.Y. (WNYT) – An overnight fire in Gloversville Thursday destroyed a former Taylor Made Products factory.
Firefighters responded to the scene just before 3 a.m. Thursday and were fighting in nonstop until 9 a.m.
Thomas Groff is the chief of the Gloversville Fire Department, and he said when they first arrived crews first entered the building. However, he said soon after they had to retreat because the fire was too dangerous.
“I think once they made entry, got into the second floor. It was a lot more fire than they could handle,” Groff said. “Then they backed out, we went defensive. The fire had such a head start. It’s all wood and timber on inside and a lot of fuel.”
Brendon Meacham lives right by the former factory and said he first smelled smoke while he was inside his home. That’s when he said he went with his cousin to go look outside to see what was going on.
“The building was one piece. It was in smoke. So we thought, oh, the fire’s out. They did what they had to do,” Meacham said.
Meacham and his cousin, Kadan VanAllen, said that soon after the building just fell apart.
“The walls caved in, the roof caved in, and everything was collapsing. Every two minutes, you hear pops, you just hear the walls falling,” Meacham and VanAllen said.
Around 9 p.m. NewsChannel 13 crews were on scene as the fire broke out again in a hotspot. Smoke and then flames started to fill the air. Firefighters then arrived on the scene again to put the flames out.
One firefighter said that it was the second time that they had to return back to the fire today to put out a hotspot.
NewsChannel 13 reached out to the Gloversville Police Department on if any arrests have been made but they were unable to confirm.