Anxious Moment at Putnam Plaza

ERIC GROSS Carmel FD Capt. Dave DeRienzo checks on an exhaust fan at the entrance to Blockbuster Video. There were some anxious moments at the Putnam Plaza Shopping Center in Carmel when an alarm of “confirmed fire” was broadcast on county police and fire radio frequencies.

Last week’s incident took place at 12 noon, when the Putnam 911 Dispatch Center received several calls reporting smoke filling the Blockbuster Video store.

Carmel FD personnel, under the command of chiefs Mark Earle, Patrick O’Brien, and Robert Lipton, responded, remembering days of yesteryear when fires at the Putnam Plaza gutted the Rite- Aid Drugstore and destroyed the Wendy’s Restaurant.

When smoke was observed inside Blockbuster and a strong smell of smoke was evident outside the store, a call went out for mutual aid from both the Lake Carmel and Brewster Fire Departments.

ERIC GROSS The Carmel FD tower ladder truck is elevated. Carmel FD personnel elevated the department’s tower ladder truck in the front of the building while the Brewster FD ladder truck was situated at the rear.

Firefighters climbed to the roof and discovered a burned motor in a heating and air conditioning unit at the rear of Blockbuster that melted wiring and sent smoke into the video store as well as an Asian restaurant and the Quizno’s sandwich shop.

The fire was contained to the unit on the roof of the plaza. After checking to determine there was no extension of flames into the roof itself, and after using powerful exhaust fans to remove the smoke from the three businesses, fire crews returned to quarters 90 minutes later. No injuries were reported.

Members of the Carmel FD Fire Police Team assisted with traffic and crowd control. Also lending assistance were Putnam Deputy Emergency Coordinators James Ciulla and Jeffrey Boyle, Carmel Police Officer Thomas Raffaele, members of the Carmel Volunteer Ambulance Corps, and a representative of the Putnam Bureau of Emergency Services.