(Photo from a community member).
A structure fire took place at the Suit-Kote facility on Route 11 in the town of Cortlandville Wednesday, which gave off heightened flames and heavy black smoke.
According to a release by the Cortlandville Fire Department, the fire was reported at about 5:30 p.m. The fire was “visible near the liquid asphalt storage tanks,” the report states.
This prompted a request for the City of Cortland Haz-Mat Team, along with foam “to contain and smother the fire.”
Multiple firefighters worked to “combat and contain” the fire, which was “impinging the storage tanks,” the report states. Firefighters had the fire under control in an hour, the report notes.
A request was put in to Tompkins County Airport-Crash Fire Rescue, which responded with Aircraft Rescue Firefighting by spraying foam on the fire. Firefighters remained on scene around 7:30 p.m.
The report states that the fire was contained to a storage building. It included synthetic plastic beads, which are used as a “binding agent making asphalt. The beads were what caught on fire.
No injuries were reported, and there was “no release or spills” as a result of the fire. The city’s Haz-Mat team monitored the air quality, which was “deemed safe,” the report states.
The fire is currently under investigation with the New York State Office of Fire Prevention and Control.
The Cortlandville Fire Department was also assisted by the Cortland and Homer Fire Departments, the Cortland County Department of Emergency Response and Communications, Cortland County Sheriff's Office, New York State Police, New York State DEC-Spill Response and New York State Department of Emergency Management.
Here is a video from a community member of the fire:
Here is a video of multiple fire departments responding to the reported structured fire:
Here are some more photos of the structured fire (all photos were taken by a community member):
