Photo by Howard Owens.
No piece of lumber, so to speak, will go unturned at 46 Swan St., Batavia, the former Backhoe Joe's, as fire investigators attempt to determine how a conflagration enveloped the vacant building on Friday afternoon and brought it to the ground.
Both Chief Josh Graham, City Fire, and Capt. Robert Fix, said as of yet, they have no clue how the fire started or why it spread so quickly.
An initial caller at about 12:10 p.m. reported smoke coming from one of the windows. A few minutes later, Fix was leaving the County Courthouse, where Engine 17 had been dispatched earlier for a medical call, and he saw a tower of smoke to the east and immediately called for a second alarm.
"Upon arrival, it was fully engulfed in fire throughout all the windows," Fix said. "That's when we went to a third alarm because of the large brick exposure building and set up for defensive operations."
All City Fire platoons were dispatched to the fire. Oakfield Fire filled in at City Fire's hall. Town of Batavia, Stafford, and Elba all responded to the scene.
There have been no reported injuries.
Fix said the first concern was protecting nearby buildings, particularly the closest structure, a brick building to the south of 46 Swan, which explains the defensive posture of fire crews.
There was also an issue with sufficient water flow from one fire hydrant.
"The problem is with the fire, this fire, if you start using too many hydrants in the same neighborhood, you're robbing water from each other at that point," Fix said. "So we had some of the mutual aid fire departments come in off Liberty Street and start bringing a water supply from a different area."
As for potential reasons why the fire spread so quickly, Fix suggested the afternoon's strong breeze fed the flames.
"There was a pretty good east wind here like there is now, you know, during the fire and having the vacant lot across the street and the railroad tracks, the wind is whipping right through here pretty good," Fix said. "But other than that, I don't have a reason why it got such a good head start on us."
Graham noted the age of the wood structure. Also, since the building was in the midst of demolition.
"It's an older structure," Graham said. "There's a lot of holes in it, a lot of ventilation and stuff to feed the fire. So it could be as simple as that. I can't rule anything out. We just don't know at this point."
Neither Graham nor Fix would speculate on the possible cause of the fire.
The structure has been vacant for a long, long time -- nobody at the scene seemed to know how long. Over the summer, there were signs of work being done on the building, then a safety fence was erected around the entire lot, and a sign for Viele Construction was on the Swan Street side of the property.
The county lists 46 Swan Street LLC and the property owner. That LLC has a mailing address of 61 Swan St., Batavia, which is the location of Viele Construction.
County tax records say the "actual year built" for the structure was 1920, with an "effective year built" of 1970. The lot size is .16 acres. The commercial use is listed as a tavern with 1,943 square feet. The total area of the structure was 3,886 square feet.
In 2002, Joseph Garland sold the property to 46 Swan Street LLC for $70,000. The LLC sold it in December 2011 for $1 to Julie Pappalardo. The City of Batavia is listed as the owner prior to a sale on March 27, 2018, to Richard Borrell. He owned it until June 26, 2018, when 46 Swan Street LLC reacquired it for $1. With the exception of the 2002 deed record, the property is listed as unusable for valuation.
Its most recent total assessed value is $22,000. The land is assessed at $6,400.
For more photos, when the building was fully engulfed, click here.
Photos by Howard Owens.
