Ladder 3 Responds to 3 Building fire in Winooski

On Tuesday, January 31, at approximately 0500 hours, the Essex Junction Fire Department was dispatched to respond with mutual aid to the City of Winooski for a third alarm structure fire on Main Street. Ladder 3 responded and arrived on the scene to find three separate structure fires, all within proximity.

EJFD personnel were immediately tasked with throwing ground ladders to the involved structures for firefighter egress. EJFD personnel threw all the ground ladders on Ladder 3 and Winooski Tower 4. EJFD personnel were tasked with vertical ventilation and completed several vertical ventilation holes in the roof. Once this was complete, EJFD personnel cut access holes in the rear of one of the structures.

Ladder 3 and personnel operated on the scene for over four hours. The set ultimately escalated to five-alarms, the region's largest alarm escalation in recent memory. Agencies on the scene were:

Winooski Fire

Saint Michael's College Fire & Rescue

UVM Rescue

Burlington Fire

South Burlington Fire

Colchester Fire

VTANG Fire

Essex Junction Fire

Essex Fire

Milton Fire

South Hero Fire

Williston Fire