On August 2, 2022, at 10:33 a.m., Syracuse (NY) firefighters were alerted by the 911 center to a possible building collapse at 413 Pond Street. Fire companies from Station 2 (Lodi St.) arrived in just over two minutes to find significant structural issues affecting a three-story brick apartment building (413 Pond St.) attached to a two-story wood-framed structure (1205 Park St.). Sections of wall collapsed onto an adjacent exposure, a one-story wood-framed residence (409 Pond St.). The collapse building has an unoccupied commercial space, formerly ‘Ndella’s,’ on the first floor.
Firefighters immediately evacuated occupants of the structures and set up collapse zones to protect the public from the possibility of falling debris or total collapse. They found there to be structural compromise of the brick wall of the apartment building adjacent to the wood-framed residence at 409 Pond St., as well as sections of brick that fell onto the that house. A load-bearing shared wall between the collapse building and 1405 Park St. is also unsound. A structure at 407 Pond St. is within the collapse zone and the occupant had to be evacuated. National Grid secured utilities to the buildings to ensure no uncontrolled release of natural gas or electrical hazard if the buildings collapse or shift.
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Firefighters from the Rescue Company and Truck 2 worked to secure access to the building by removing fire escape stairs. The Rescue Company is trained in collapse rescue, performing structural size-up, emergency shoring, lifting, cribbing, void search and victim extrication. Building collapse is a high-risk, low-frequency alarm; firefighters assigned to the Rescue Company continuously train for these types of events.
There were no injuries. Five occupants in total are displaced: one from 407 Pond St., two from 409 Pond St., and two from 413 Pond St. The Syracuse Fire Department turned the scene over to the City of Syracuse’s Division of Codes Enforcement. On the morning of August 3, the majority of the 413 Pond St. building’s wall came down as well as sections of floor and room contents, falling onto the exposure building.
