At around noon on Tuesday, firefighters responded to a 911 call that a fire had broken out in 112 Cook Street in Collegetown.
The house is three stories tall and houses eight people, according to a resident of the house who requested not to be named. None of the residents were home when the fire occurred.
A small fire was started by welders working on the building, according to Lt. George Apgar of the Ithaca Fire Department, who was present on the scene.
The welders of AccuFab Custom Metal Fabrication were “opening up” the upstairs area to check for any other damage, Apgar said. Employees of AccuFab who were present on the scene declined to comment to The Sun.
An unnamed person attempted to extinguish the fire with a dry chemical extinguisher before placing the 911 call, Apgar told The Sun.
Emergency services dispatched three engines, a ladder truck and a duty chief, Apgar said. When IFD arrived, they examined the area and the rest of the house with heat guns to check for residual damage or hot spots and “wet it all down.”
The house sustained some minor structural damage, according to Apgar, centered around the upstairs fire escape and deck. A hole went through the floor of the deck to the porch.
“None of us were really surprised,” the resident said, who was notified by neighbors across the street of the incident. “The house is pretty old.”
By 2:05 p.m., all emergency vehicles had left the scene.