Syracuse, NY — About 40 people were displaced by an explosion Saturday night in a 12-story apartment building caused by a man making homemade fireworks, according to fire and police officials.
The explosion was so strong it knocked down an apartment wall in Vinette Towers, police said. The sixth floor is likely a loss, Syracuse Fire Chief Michael Monds told Syracuse.com | The Post Standard Sunday afternoon.
“I heard it, it was scary,” a resident in a lawn chair said to another resident outside the building Sunday. “It shook my ceiling.”
Monds said around 27 people and five pets spent the night in an American Red Cross shelter Saturday night at Onondaga Community College. As of 2:30 pm Sunday 12 people were left at the shelter.
On Sunday afternoon, some residents of the apartment building sat outside the complex chatting about the explosion.
Residents popped in and out of the main floor, trying to find out when they could return to their apartments, many of them evacuated the night before by firefighters.
A team of maintenance staff from the Syracuse Housing Authority was doing a full sweep of every corner of the building looking for water and other damage, said Bill Simmons, executive director of the Housing Authority.
“We’re making good progress,” said Simmons. He was seen bringing residents in and out and helping with recovery efforts.
The doors to the building were open with sunshine pouring in from the warm summer’s day. Several fans filtered out the smoke that had come billowing from apartment 608 where the explosion happened.
Nine firefighters arrived at 9:30 pm Saturday at the apartment building at 947 Pond St, and were greeted by a man in the lobby, Monds said.
The man had burns all over his body and told firefighters there was an explosion in apartment 608, Monds said. The man told them another victim was in the apartment, he said.
Firefighters made their way to the sixth floor with their fire hoses and found heavy smoke and fire, he said. That’s when the Onondaga County 911 Dispatch Center started getting calls of people trapped.
The apartment building has 153 units, Monds said. The fire department upped the call and a total of 60 firefighters arrived. Only 9 were not at the scene, in case other things happened elsewhere in the city, he said.
Firefighters split the building into half. One stairwell was used for firefighting efforts and the other for evacuating residents, Monds said. Some of the residents were able to stay in place but firefighters had to communicate that with some older residents, he said.
Around 40 to 50 residents were evacuated by firefighters, Monds said. Some had difficulties with mobility and were wheeled out or used a stair chair, he said.
Many of the residents were confused and firefighters had to explain patiently, Monds said.
In apartment 608 firefighters found an unconscious man with burns on his body, he said. Two men were taken to Upstate University Hospital and three residents were treated and released by EMTs, he said.
One of the men hospitalized is Scott Dimond, 38, of Syracuse. Upstate University Hospital gave his condition as critical. Dimond has burned to 50% of his body, said Sgt. Thomas Blake, a spokesperson for Syracuse police.
Dimond also had multiple charges including arson and assault being brought against him for starting the explosion with homemade fireworks, Blake said.
The smoke from the fireworks was blinding, Monds said.
“I had firefighters telling me that they couldn’t see their hand in front of their face,” Monds said.
Floors seven-12 are undamaged and the 113 residents above the explosion were allowed to stay Saturday night, Monds said.
The floors below the explosion have extensive water damage from the firefighting hoses and sprinkler systems, he said. At one point even the elevator was malfunctioning, he said.
Firefighters put out the fire in 45 minutes but stayed on the scene till about 4 am helping residents and the Red Cross, he said.
Residents were put on Centro buses that took them to the temporary shelter at OCC, he said. One resident waiting on the first floor said they tried to sleep on the cots in the gym but were too riled up from the explosion.
The housing authority is working to find temporary housing for the residents still waiting at the shelter, Monds said. The Red Cross hopes to close it by tonight.
One resident waiting in the parking lot shook his head.
“This coulda been a tragedy,” he said. “Someone could’ve died. I hope that you are ok.”
Executive Director of the Syracuse Housing Authority Bill Simmons supervises clean up after an explosion at the Vinette Towers, Sunday, July 10, 2022. (Rylee Kirk | [email protected])
Staff writer Rylee Kirk covers breaking news, crime and public safety. Have a tip, story idea, photo, question or comment? Reach her at 315-396-5961, on Twitter @kirk_rylee, or [email protected].
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