SPRING VALLEY, N.Y. (WCBS 880) — One person is dead and a firefighter is missing after a raging multiple-alarm fire erupted early Tuesday morning at an assisted living complex in Rockland County.
More than two dozen residents were pulled to safety and taken to nearby facilities after the blaze broke out around 1 a.m. at the Evergreen Court Home for Adults on Lafayette Street in Spring Valley.
The building at one point was fully engulfed with flames shooting out the windows.
The entire complex, which runs the length of an entire block, is a total loss after most of the wooden-frame structure burned to the ground, WCBS 880's Sean Adams reported.
A volunteer Spring Valley firefighter, who was trying to rescue a resident on the third floor, remains unaccounted for.
Adams reports that firefighter put out a mayday call before the section of the senior complex he was in collapsed.
"There was a mayday call by this firefighter and the mayday was answered, however, with the extent of the fire, the volume of fire, the conditions were too unbearable, where firefighters went in and they could not locate the firefighter and they had to back out," said Rockland County Fire Coordinator Chris Kear.
The resident, who was feared missing along with the firefighter, was later found alive and unharmed after wandering off to a nearby train station.
A witness captured video of the frightening moment when part of the building collapsed under the intense heat and flames.
"The whole thing came down in a big thud and there was smoke and ash and debris shooting out in every direction," Adams reported.
Volunteer firefighters arrived on the scene within four minutes of receiving the call and went door to door in the facility to rescue residents. There were early problems with water pressure and firefighters had to run a supply line down to Route 45.
Twenty-three of 26 Rockland County volunteer fire departments responded to the scene. Mahwah's fire department and the FDNY also assisted in the operation.
One resident died at a hospital.
Two firefighters were taken to area hospitals with injuries. One was taken to Hackensack University Medical Center and released. A second was taken to Westchester Medical Center and will be held overnight for observation.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo has directed the State Department of Health, Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services, and State Police to assist the Spring Valley Fire and Police Departments and Rockland County Sheriff's Office.
"On behalf of the family of New York, my heart breaks for those who lost loved ones in the fire, and we pray that anyone else involved is safe," Cuomo said. "The State will continue providing whatever support is needed to ensure that happens."
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