THE WORLD READS WHITE PLAINS CITIZENETREPORTER — 8,324,077 VISITS IN ONE YEAR

WPCNR CITY HALL CIRCUIT. By John F. Bailey. July 8, 2010:

 

When the Bengal Tiger  Restaurant caught fire Wednesday afternoon, at an undetermined time, there was no sprinkler system in the restaurant to slow the spread of the blaze, White Plains Fire Chief, Richard Lyman told a press conference at city hall this afternoon.

 

 

 

The Bengal Tiger Fire Scene (center) seen from the Chester & Maple Garage at noon today.

 

 When firefighters arrived at the Bengal Tiger,  they were responding to a report of smoke coming from the Tiger area. Lyman answering a question from White Plains Week’s Peter Katz, said police officers quickly cleared the buildings on the Post Road block, and firefighters entered the Tiger premises finding heavy smoke coming up the stairs from the basement, flames on the stairwell, and the stairwell had collapsed and high heat conditions.

 

Aftermath News Conference, City Hall: Damon Amadio, Building Commissioner, Police Chief James Bradley, Mayor Adam Bradley, Fire Chief Richard Lyman.

 

 Lyman said firemen attempted get water on the blaze in the interior of the restaurant, but were called them back outside because of the rapid spread of the fire, and the lack of ventilation. In the rapidly deteriorating conditions, Lyman said, the strategy was to bring the firefighters out and conduct a containment strategy to prevent the spread to other buildings on the block and the two story office building on Court Street. Lyman said fire went up the columns from the basement and got into the cockloft(roof of the building)that was wood construction.

 

It is not known who phoned in the alarm which was received by the fire bureau at 2:29 P.M., Lyman said.

 

Lyman said the Latin American Café restaurant next door, did have a sprinkler system installed, but he did not indicate that it had activated.  Lyman also said he had learned that there were explosions in the building according to what persons on the scene had told him.(Two other uniformed personnel have told WPCNR they had heard explosions, and a third had confirmed that he had been told there were explosions.) 

 

 

 

Mayor Adam Bradley said he had been told by persons from the restaurant the fire had started in the basement of the Bengal Tiger and that the search for what started the devastating destruction was now under way.

 

A matter that will be determined as part of the investigation will be– how long the fire was going before it was phoned in,or in the case at this time, when smoke was reported; what activities were going on at the time in the Bengal Tiger that might have lead to the fire starting.

 

Chief Lyman said that Bengal Tiger did not have a sprinkler system because it was not required to conform to the new city code because the restaurant opened before the sprinkler systems were required by the  city fire code. Building Commissioner Damon Amadio told WPCNR that new restaurants opening  now, depending on occupancy expected are required to have sprinkler systems.

 

WPCNR asked Mayor Adam Bradley if he was going to direct the city to look into how many restaurants in buildings similar to the block that was gutted yesterday existed without sprinkling systems, and whether code could be legislated to equip non-fire retardant equipped establishments and buildings with sprinblers.  

 

Bradley said they would look into it but that it was a legal issue as to whether non-conforming properties could be forced to upgrade. Asked if the city would supply a list of restaurants and buildings in the downtown that were non-conforming, Bradley said WPCNR would have to file a Freedom of Information Act request. Amadio, the Commissioner of Building, told WPCNR “there were a great number of (non-conforming) buildings.”

 

Adam Bradley said the 11-hour fire fight was “a devastating fire to the citizens.” The Mayor said 13 stores were affected by the fire, and 7 were destroyed from The Bengal Tiger to the beauty salon around the corner on Court Street. He praised the White Plains Fire Bureau who “performed amazingly in adverse conditions,” and they were fortunate there were no serious injuries. He said 24 White Plains fire fighters were treated for heat exhaustion and 7 from other fire companies and 2 civilians treated. All but one firefighter had been released from the hospital as of 2 P.M.

 

“It was a fabulous joint effort,” the Mayor said.

 

He thanked White Plains Hospital Medical Center for supplying oxygen, restaurants for supplying water, and aid from the Westchester Department of Emergency Services.

 

Chief Lyman said 60 firefighters in total worked on the sweeping blaze which alternate blackened the city streets with thick dark smoke and white foggy acrid smoke for 10 hours,  including 9 companies.

 

Bradley said the transformer explosion that took place about 7:30 P.M. resulting in the closing of Mamaroneck Avenue to traffic was unrelated to the fire then still going on. He said it was the result of a cover being placed on a transformer, creating an overheating condition which caused the transformer to blow. No one was hurt in that incident.

 

Chief Lyman said that a fire at the Con Edison substation on New Street, phoned in at 1:39 P.M. and hour earlier took up one White Plains unit, and this complicated the response to the Post Scene phoned in 50 minutes later. Mayor Bradley said they were very concerned about the Con Ed fire because that would have produced a strain on the electric grid, and the fire fighters at that scene were able to contain that.

WPCNR WHITE PLAINS LAW JOURNAL. By John F. Bailey. July 8, 2010:

Joe Carrier, the President of the White Plains Firefighters announced to WPCNR today that his union suit in federal court for a preliminary injunction was also granted by the judge late yesterday. Carrier told WPCNR, “We scored a major success. The judge in federal court ruled our retirees (joining the city before July, 1995) over 70 years old do not have to pay 15%,”

The city by the granting of the preliminary injunction  to be extended to cover the firefighters by Judge Stephen Robinson, the city is enjoined from collecting premiums beginning Saturday. The injunctions prevent the city from collecting some million dollars or more in premiums from police and fire retirees in the 2010-1l fiscal year which started 8 days ago. 

Carrier said he is reluctant to negotiate with the city on a new firefighter contract coming up unless the city attitude changes. “They need to be less dictatorial,” Carrier said. He said he fully expected the medical benefits issue to surface again. However, the present contract the police and fire unions just completed continues in effect, so unless concessions are negotiated, medical benefits premium payment by  present employed uniformed police officers not new hires would be off the table.

Carrier said the city violated the Taylor Law by changing the way retirees medical benefits are paid without negotiating it.

Carrier, commenting on yesterday’s disasterous fire on Post Road said it showed why the city needed 169 active firefighters, not the 152 the city cut back to in June. Carrier said the fire at New Street involving the Con Edison substation hurt the department ability to respond optimally to the fire on Post Road.