Wednesday evening at 2024, tones were set off by St. Lawrence County 911 for a report of a barn fire on the Sykes Rd. Erik Johnson and Brian McCluskey the 2nd and 3rd Assistant chiefs were enroute immediately from the station as Chief Mike Dalton followed shortly behind. The request for Morley to respond and the Tanker Task Force 1st and 2nd alarms were the first of a number of mutual aid requests. While enroute, Chief Johnson sought to determine three draft locations, two were eventually covered by Morley Fire. Engine 6 and Tanker 20 were out at 2027, arriving on scene shortly thereafter. Engine 8, Rescue 1 and Ambulance 131 were on the road soon after and the airways filled with radio traffic as all departments started out for the fire. Chief Mike Dalton assumed Command upon arrival and handed Operations off to Asst. Chief Johnson. Asst. Chief McCluskey was first to complete the 360 around the barn and advised Command as to fire conditions and local hazards on scene. Engine 6, upon arrival stopped short of the fire and deployed 2 ½ lines to protect the new barn and to attempt a stop in the back section to the main barn. The fire at this point had a good hold and was rolling from the back section to the front. The third of many lines was placed to protect the two fuel storage tanks that were being threatened. Canton and Morley tankers were arriving to drop water and start off to Canton Station to fill at the hydrant until drafts were set up and operating. Engine 8 arrived and set up just beyond the fire and stretched dual 2 ½'s and was in operation for the night. Rescue 1 arrived and set up in front of Engine 6 to provide light and scene support.
Mutual aid started arriving for what was to be a busy night. Many local people started arriving on scene, as well as the Sergi Family. Farm machinery was started in an attempt to pull out the fuel tanks and other equipment from the fire and potential barn collapse. Morley Engines 32 and 29 and Madrid Engine 111, all had drafts in operation and tankers were well on their way to fill and drop. Mud and a narrow town road made it difficult to maneuver around the scene as tankers had to back up to allow room to turn around or to reach the porta-tanks to dump their water. In all, 17 tankers responded to the scene including 4 tankers that responded to dump one load to relieve tankers already in the shuttle, and to provide time for the fill sites to catch up. One supertanker responded from Lisbon and used Canton station to fill. National Grid arrived to cut power to the farm as all lateral power lines were directly over fire personnel trying to stretch hose lines. As luck would have it the barn stayed up long enough not to put personnel in harm's way. Canton remained on scene for most of the night as crews worked with an excavator to remove tin roofing and douse hot spots. Much needed man power from Morley, West Potsdam, and Madrid stayed late to operate hand lines until ground monitors were placed to "let it rain" for an extended time. Engine 8 was first to break down along with Morley Engine 32 and Madrid E-111. The Sergi family supplied much needed refreshments with waves of pizza to feed all personnel.
Throughout the next few days multiple recalls were made for the remains of the smoldering barn and our thanks to Morley Fire for handling those. Canton units returned to service at 0107hrs.
