Mark's Mower Repair and Dennis Watson Construction were casualties mid-morning to a fire that broke out in the mower repair section of the building on 901 East Third as employee Kenneth Reynolds was installing a fuel pump and fuel spillage was ignited by a backfiring of the engine.
A valiant attempt with a fire extinguisher to smother the flames failed when the extinguisher ran out of foam. Reynolds was pulled out of the building when a Hope Police Department officer happened to be driving by, saw the flames and checked in the building.
Watson said the building was fully insured but that it contained lots of wood and equipment.
By 11:30, the building was on fire in at least two places, with Hope Fire Department, Hope Police and the Hempstead County Sheriff's Department and Pafford EMS having already responded. The greyish smoke column towered hundreds of feet over Hope and could be seen for miles away.
Eventually, trucks from Southeast Hempstead, Guernsey, Fulton and Patmos showed up on scene to fight the flames. By noon, Hope Police Chief Todd Martin pronounced the fire contained. The extra water streams from fire departments in the area had eliminated any visible flames by that point.
At least 30 personnel were involved in the response. One firefighter was treated on scene for collapsing, but looked to be recovering and was not transported to a hospital as media left the scene. Otherwise, no injuries have been reported.
Though the smoke was thick, no evacuation has been called.
From the parking lot behind SWARK.Today's offices.
Looking north on South Greening.
From Dairy Breeze parking lot looking west.
