| Irvington Firefighters were dispatched to a house fire at 50 E. Sunnyside Lane at 8:48 Saturday morning. Within minutes the department had all four fire apparatus on location, pulled two handlines and was fighting fire in the attic space of this large Tudor-Style mansion owned by the Unification Church. Chief Ruffler immediately called for FAST and an additional truck from Dobbs Ferry. Additional mutual aid was summoned from Elmsford and Tarrytown. After an aggressive interior attack was attempted members were removed from the structure and two master streams were setup from Ladder 36 and Tower Ladder 23. The fire was darkened down and firefighters returned into the structure to pull ceilings and check for additional fire. The fire was called under control approximately 2 hours later.
FEBRUARY 19--Fire damages mansion of Unification Church
BY SHAWN COHEN
THE JOURNAL NEWS
(Original publication: February 19, 2006)
A fire that tore through a Tudor-Style Mansion owned by the Unification Church yesterday has been ruled accidental, though authorities are still investigating the cause, Irvington Fire Chief James Ruffler said.
Eighty to 100 firefighters responded at 8:48 a.m. to the fire at 50 E. Sunnyside Lane, a roughly 6,000 sqare-foot, single-family home owned by the church's Holy Spirit Association. It apparently started in the ceiling of a second floor bedroom, Ruffler said.
Serveral people who were home when the fire broke out had already escaped.
Crews, who saw heavy smoke coming from the roof upon arrival, managed to control the fire within 90 minutes.
The building was left temporarily uninhabitable, with heavy smoke and fire damage to the attic and roof, and water damage elsewhere.
About six people, all adults, evacuated the home. They said they would be able to stay elsewhere on the church property. Ruffler said he didn't know whether any church leaders were living there.
The Unification Church, headed by the Rev. Sun Myung Moon, is based in Tarrytown, but established a part-time residence on the Sunnyside Lane property for its leader, as well as a training and conference center, know as East Garden.
The Irvington Fire Department received mutual aid at the scene from Elmsford, Dobbs Ferry and Tarrytown fire departments. The Hastings Fire Department was on standby. |
