Brockport officials thank surrounding departments for aid in Morgan-Manning fire

Albion, Clarendon, Kendall and Murray among responding departments

Photo courtesy of Brockport Fire District: Firefighters battle a fire last Tuesday evening at the Morgan-Manning House on Main Street in Brockport.

BROCKPORT – The Brockport Fire District is thanking a big response from surrounding fire departments for their assistance at the Morgan-Manning House last Tuesday evening and night.

Leaders of the Morgan-Manning House say they are optimistic the building and many of the artifacts can be saved. Shrink wrap has been installed on the collapsed portion of the roof on the south side of the historic mansion.

Mayor Margaret Blackman issued this statement last week after the fire: “We grieve with all of Brockport and the larger community for the fire that severely damaged our magnificent Morgan Manning House on the night of January 14th.

“It felt like so many personal memories of events at the House and on its grounds went up in the smoke. Yet we have much to be thankful for—beginning with the Morgan Manning board members who spotted and reported the fire, the numerous fire companies that answered the call and stayed for hours, the pizzas, food and drinks donated by local restaurants to feed the fire crews, Brockport Police who monitored foot and vehicle traffic in the area, our Village Building inspectors/fire marshals who determined that the building was still structurally sound, and the many government officials and citizens who shared their thoughts in person and writing on the tragedy and offered to help.

“Brockport is resilient, Brockport is determined; the Village stands ready to assist the Morgan Manning in its recovery.”

Brockport firefighters were dispatched to the scene at 6:54 p.m. on Jan. 14 with report of smoke coming from the structure.

Fire companies from Spencerport, Murray, Bergen, Churchville, Chili, LeRoy, Gates, North Greece, Kendall, Albion, Clarendon, Hilton, and Hamlin-Morton-Walker were summoned as additional alarms were declared during the course of the fire.

Christopher Martin, the Brockport Fire District public information officer, detailed the firefighting efforts in the following news release:

Brockport firefighters were summoned to 151 Main Street: the Morgan-Manning House, a historic landmark in the Village of Brockport for a report of smoke in the structure.  On arrival a light smoke condition was reported with smoke coming from the north side of the home.

At 18:54 hours District Fire Chief Tim Smith declared a working fire while they continued to investigate the source of the smoke they were dealing with. Hand lines were pulled from Pumper 233 and laid into the basement and first floor. Utilizing the National Incident Command System (NIMS), Chief Smith (2C-13) established command with Deputy Chief Adam Leggett (2C-23) supervising operations and establishing divisions while Assistant Chief Scott Wainwright (2C-33) managed personnel accountability.

The basement division located a small fire in the basement which they were able to knock down with the lines pulled into the structure. As they were attacking the fire in the basement, the first-floor division was reporting heavy fire which they extinguished with their hand line.

Crews were ordered to the second floor to continue to search for extension and were inhibited in their efforts by the fire hidden beyond their reach within the walls. Not long after, the first-floor division reported a partial collapse of a section of the second floor down to the first floor.

Firefighting crews were then ordered from the second floor in the interest of firefighter safety. The tactic to extinguish shifted to a defensive attack utilizing the ground and aerial ladders which allowed them to attack part of the fire from the front porch roof through the windows.

Due to the floor collapse and the inability to access the fire within the walls, fire quickly spread to the attic and broke out on the second floor.

Part of the shift in the operational tactics led to utilizing elevated Master Streams from Brockport’s Quint 230, Spencerport’s Quint 2910, and Hilton’s Quint 260. 2910 was repositioned due to their proximity to the South side roof and chimney due to a concern over a possible collapse which did occur a short while later. Gates Quint 4510 was requested to position on the Northwest corner of the roof tasked with opening up the attic and extinguishing any hotspots found there.

All crews were released from the scene and returned to their home quarters prior to 12:46 a.m. on Wednesday morning.

“Our heartfelt thanks go out to our neighboring departments that contributed to extinguishing this blaze, and provided standby apparatus while the rest of us were tied up fighting the fire,” Martin said. “In addition, we would like to extend our most sincere appreciation to the Brockport Police Department, the Village of Brockport Department of Public Works, Monroe Ambulance, Brockport Ambulance Corps, Monroe County Fire Bureau, Regional Transit Service (RTS), Nativity BVM Church, and all the local businesses that provided food and beverages for our personnel.”

The Brockport Police Department provided security for the structure overnight. Martin said Monroe County Fire Bureau Fire Investigation Team returned later Wednesday morning to continue its investigation. Results of the investigation have not yet been released, Martin said.