Early Morning House Fire

Moyers Corners F.D. was dispatched to a reported house fire on Bonstead Road at 0236 hours on Wednesday April 6, 2005.  Initial dispatch indicated a passerby on Rt. 481 saw a large fire near the Oneida River.  Other calls were placing the fire on the Oswego County side of the river and the Phoenix Fire Department was activated through Oswego County 911.  Phoenix Car 1 reported that he was on Rt. 481 and that "whatever it is, it's in the sky".  Minutes later, Phoenix Car 1 confirmed a house fire on Bonstead Road, east of the Rt. 481 bridge.  MCFD Car 2 (D/C Zaferakis) requested that a Phoenix Engine continue to the scene with a port-a-pond as there are no hydrants in that area.  Upon arrival, Car 2 signaled a 99 with a house fully involved and a drafting point was available.  Phoenix Engine 1 was first on scene and led the handline attack.  MCFD Engine 11 (Capt. Kenyon) went straight to the drafting point on the river and established the water supply by hand-jacking ~500' of 4" to Phoenix E1.  Within minutes, E11 was drafting water from the river.  MCFD Ladder 1 (Lt. Fritz) and E41 (F/F Watson) arrived and supplemented the fire suppression.  Additional units operating on the scene were E21 (Capt. Naum), E31 (Lt. Izzo), TR2 (Capt. Wisnowski) and R3 (Capt. Wisely) as RIT.  MCFD Car 1 was Operations and Battalion 2 was Safety. The bulk of the fire was knocked down in about 20 minutes and overhaul operations were suspended until completion of the fire investigation by OCFIU.  Fortunately, the home was not occupied at the time of the fire.