Rockland County volunteer firefighters didn’t have to wait long to get their first fire of 2014. A fire involving a piece of floor cleaning equipment at Manhattan Beer Distributors’ recycling warehouse in Montebello filled portions of the building with thick smoke around 12:30 a.m. The fire didn’t do much damage, but officials had to get creative clearing the smoke.
Tallman Fire Chief Chris Szklany said a suggestion from Mahwah, NJ firefighters made the job easier: instead of standard fire department fans, Mahwah brought its fan boat — normally used for flooding response along the Ramapo and Mahwah rivers — and set it up in a loading bay, quickly clearing the warehouse.
Because the fire happened during a holiday, volunteer manpower was tight, and firefighters from Suffern, Monsey, and Mahwah were called in to assist. The building’s sprinkler system had kept the fire from spreading, and it was quickly extinguished. No one was injured, and the warehouse was closed at the time. Firefighters wrapped up around 3 a.m.