The Masonic Temple building fire is not completely out yet.
That was the report Monday as Dunkirk Mayor Richard Frey provided a forum for an update on the fire that has closed Central Avenue between Third and Fourth streets to vehicular traffic since the first lines were put down around 6 p.m. on Feb. 24.
"Meeting number three, day five and it feels like 10," Frey started before turning the floor over to Dunkirk Fire Department Captain Al Loeb.
Loeb said the department is using two hoses at present on the Masonic Temple building from the roof of the Graf Building.
"We have those lines operating on a 24-hour basis. Believe it or not, there's still hotspots in there. It has started to decrease over the last 24 hours, we've seen a decrease in fire flareups, but currently we're still operating there," Loeb stated. "The emergency demolition continues, they're basically working from sunup to sundown. They worked on Saturday and Sunday as well, so that's continuing."
Loeb reported two injuries during the fire, both to city paid firefighters.
"One was a shoulder injury as a result of falling on a slippery surface while handling a hose line. That firefighter is fully recovered," Loeb said. He identified this firefighter as Joseph Kucharski
"The second firefighter received a minor head trauma and a sprained wrist as a result of the hose appliance breaking loose," Loeb said of firefighter Joel Ahrens. " ... We hope that he will be back to work soon."
Loeb added the Chautauqua County Fire Investigation team has concluded the fire was electrical in nature.
Department of Public Works Director Tony Gugino reported on snow removal in the fire area and on Lynx Street, the small street between Central and Washington avenues.
"We did do sidewalk clearance as well so we're moving along there and the good news is Community Bank reopened today," Gugino added.
Police Chief David Ortolano was next and he started by expanding on Loeb's remarks about the fire investigation team.
"I spoke with the lead investigator this afternoon and they do have one area of the building still that they would like to look at," he said. "They're working with the demo crew and when the demo crew gets to that break in the building they're still going to take a look at that to reassure what they believe now. They'll still be looking at that with the demo crew."
Ortolano said pedestrian traffic is open on the east side of Central Avenue from Fourth Street to just north of the Central Station Restaurant and from Third Street to 320 Central Ave.
"As time goes on and public safety will allow, we will continue to shrink the area that will be a secure area," Ortolano said. "Just to remind everybody again, the county office building and One Liberty Square are secure areas and the only people that are allowed in those areas are people that have the right of access. Anyone else that is caught in those areas, we will take whatever action we need against them if they are in those buildings or around those areas and they are not authorized people."
Building and Zoning Officer Alan Zurawski was next up, at Frey's urging. Zurawski said the demolition crew is working by hand.
"They have to bring it down another 6 feet before they can get the machinery in to reach it and start pushing it in slowly. The reason it's being a little bit delayed is because there's a portion of the floor still in the corner of the building and the debris has fallen on to that floor. They're going to move that debris out of there and then get the remaining portion of that wall down," Zurawski explained. "They removed some of the wall along the north county building. ... They're trying to get anything down that might collapse, cause more injury to any people or damage to any other buildings. It is expected that the hand work will be completed probably by (today) and then they will start the machine work early on Wednesday.
"At that time they will proceed to get the building down a little further so we can reach, dig in, and see if there's any other hotspots in the building to get the fire out."
Jay Warren is the representative and point man for Graf Realty. He said the insurance adjusters have given the to secure the Graf Building and a structural engineer has given the building a, "clean bill of health as far as its structural soundness.
"It's ready to be reoccupied as soon as we take care of some of the restoration issues," Warren said. "The Liberty Building is another question."
Warren said it was too early to tell how long the cleanup will take.
"There's too many variables. If all the variables came into play we could move more quickly, but we can't predict how those variables will play out," he stated.
County Executive Greg Edwards was also present and had plenty of praise for all who helped to meet the county's needs. He said the county will have a sheriff's deputy on the scene.
"We're going to begin to have people in and out of those buildings and I need a way to assure that the people who are coming in and going out are authorized to be in there," Edwards explained. "And they're only leaving with what they're authorized to take with them, and that's everything from my personnel to contractors who will be in there to professionals trying to secure documents and records for the preservation effort that has to take place. ... We're going to have an extra presence here from the sheriff, not because of a concern ... but just to add another presence."
Edwards added that getting county records secured is an important step in the recovery process. That process will depend on how quickly the Masonic Temple is down.
"We're at phase one of the demolition, it's an emergency demolition right now," Zurawski said. "There are still walls up that may cause damage ... there's other problems that will occur probably later on. ... Once the emergency demolition crew is done the owner of the Masonic building will bring in a demolition crew. We have pocket beams to worry about, fire walls to worry about, things like that that are attached to those walls. It's going to be a long meticulous demolition. It will be a while before all the walls are down."
While the city had to scramble to get enough water to fight the initial fire, Loeb said the water usage on the fire has gone down in the last 48 hours. He said Sunday the water was turned off and the department was motioned to by demo workers from above in a bucket that the smoke was back.
"Just in a matter of a couple of hours. It's unbelievable looking in that hole with all that snow and all that water how quick the fire builds up," Loeb said. "Every morning I wake up and hope I can go over there and get a report that we can pick up. I think it's coming soon."
While the fire department is looking for a pick up in the near future, demolition and restoration will take some time.
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