Back to Back Blaze: Nyack faces two apartment fires in a single afternoon

Firefighters from across Rockland and Westchester County responded to multiple fires in Nyack on Tuesday as two unrelated incidents resulted in the evacuation of multiple housing units across the village. At 11 a.m. first responders were called to the sixth floor of the West Shore Towers apartment complex at 103 Gedney Street after receiving reports of smoke coming from the roof of the building. Nyack, Central Nyack, and Piermont Fire Departments, responded to the incident and were supported by fire companies from Pearl River, Nanuet, Thiells, Sloatsburg, Monsey, Haverstraw, and West Haverstraw.

 Twenty minutes later, a second structure fire was reported at the Nyack Plaza, the flames affecting 12 units housing units and prompting further mutual aid from nearby departments. According to the Nyack NAACP, 13 families were displaced by the day’s devastation, including children and elders. No serious injures have been reported at time of publication. A GoFundMe has been created for those displaced by the fires and can be found at https://gofund.me/a260d692.

In a statement shared by Mayor Joe Rand, Nyack’s leader thanked first responders for their heroic efforts and credited the many village institutions that had stepped to support those displaced by the fire. 

“We start with the most important thing: we didn’t lose anyone. Thanks to the immediate response from our Fire Department and all the other local firehouses that responded, they kept yesterday from being a very different kind of day,” wrote Rand.

“We did have some injuries, and our thoughts are with one of our brave firefighters who was admitted to the hospital, but it could have been much worse. Thank God it wasn’t.

“That said, it was still an enormously difficult day. About a dozen families lost many of their belongings and were displaced from their homes—likely for an extended period. Our hearts go out to them. The Village has secured hotel rooms in Nyack for them for the next two days, until the Red Cross and County Department of Social Services can help secure longer-term housing while work on their homes begins.”

Nicole Hines & Bill Batson of the NYACK NAACP, Kim Cross and the team from the Rockland County Pride Center, Chrisse Bertone and the team from St. Ann’s Food Cupboard, Diane Serratore and People to People and Stephen Papas from the United Way of Rockland were all acknowledged by the Mayor for providing food, housing and emergency support for their fellow residents during the day’s chaos. The Nyack Fresh Market, The Strawberry Place, and Grace Church were also thanked for supplying food and shelter for evacuees.