Fire department details Pier 28 operation, shipboard rescues and greater-alarm fires

Deputy Chief Darius Letrope told the commission on Aug. 9 that July operations included a complex Pier 28 fire, two successful shipboard rescues and a greater-alarm apartment fire on 19th Avenue that highlighted hoarding conditions and renovation-related hazards.

Letrope said crews responding to a Pier 28 call discovered an established underside fire that required use of a circulator nozzle — a high-volume device typically used for basement fires — and coordination with the fire boat. "They were able to make good progress on the fire while they were waiting for the fire boat to respond," he said, and credited the fire-boat nozzle and a skiff deployed beneath the pier for allowing crews to extinguish the remaining fire.

Letrope also described two shipboard rescues involving the vessel Atlantic Glory, in which two workers who fell from scaffolding were brought to shore and transported to hospital following coordinated operations with Coast Guard liaisons.

The department also reported a July 27 greater-alarm at 1242 on 19th Avenue (Box 7424). Letrope said the building’s interior had undergone renovations and contained heavy plywood partitions and hoarding-like storage that concealed the main fire body; that complexity required a second alarm and contributed to two firefighter injuries (one laceration and one fall). "It was a complex layout that... had a lot of material in the structure itself," he said.

Letrope urged continued training to address hoarding conditions and noted the department’s ongoing incident reviews; the arson unit had 19 structure investigations and dozens of other open investigations for July. The commission took no additional action on these operational reports.