Still smoldering at the Bengal Tiger on the day following the fire.
Photo credit: Staff

At 2 p.m. Thursday, White Plains Mayor Adam Bradley, Fire Chief Richard Lyman, Building Commissioner Daman Amadio, and Public Works Commissioner Joseph (Bud) Nicoletti held a press conference to address issues and questions arising out of yesterday's fire on the Post Road. Mayor Bradley stated that a total of 13 businesses were impacted by the fire, with seven being totally destroyed. The destruction took place from the location of the Bengal Tiger restaurant at 144 E. Post Road, moving up the Post Road to Court Street and around the corner onto Court Street. A Concrete firewall at the edge of the Bengal Tiger stopped the fire from traveling in the direction of Mamaroneck Avenue. The construction of the building housing the Bengal Tiger was primarily wood. If you were in White Plains on Wednesday, you could smell the wood fire.

Mayor Bradley commended the White Plains Fire Department, saying they performed amazingly in very adverse conditions. Bradley further noted that the joint effort of the White Plains Police Department, EMT, the Westchester County Office of Emergency Management, White Plains Hospital Center (which brought oxygen to the scene), fire companies responding from other areas, and civilian business owners who offered water and food, was fabulous.

About 24 White Plains firefighters were hospitalized, 19 of them during the first hours of the blaze. Seven firefighters from other departments were also hospitalized, and one civilian. All were treated for heat exhaustion and released from the hospital, except for one White Plains firefighter who has been held for further care.

According to Chief Lyman, the call about smoke in the parking lot behind the Bengal Tiger came in at 2.29 p.m. Previously, at 1:20 p.m. a call had come in for a fire at the Con Edison substation, which could have had severe impact on the electrical grid for the entire region. That fire was controlled.

Police immediately evacuated the building on the Post Road as the first units from the Fire Department determined how to combat the fire. Smoke and fire was seen coming from restaurant's basement. It was determined that the stairs were failing and there was no way to bring water down to the lower area to stop the fire. Emphasis was put on protecting the surrounding area as much as possible. There were no sprinklers on the restaurant's premises. (Damon Amadio, Building Commissioner, later explained that because the building housing the Bengal Tiger was built in 1931 and had housed a restaurant at the time, the Bengal Tiger was "grandfathered" to the older codes and was not required to have a sprinkler system). The Latin American Cafe, which was destroyed in the fire, did have a sprinkler system. When asked by the press if they knew which restaurants, or even buildings in White Plains did not have sprinkler systems, Chief Lyman said he did not know. Commissioner Amadio said the information was on record.

The destruction affected neighboring businesses.

Chief Lyman explained that a total of nine companies were in service at the time of the fire, with Westchester County companies providing mutual aid. A total of 60 firefighters worked to put out the blaze over the duration of the fire and to cover White Plains in the event another fire was called in. Twenty-nine of those firefighters were from White Plains. Lyman further stated that White Plains trains and works together with those companies providing mutual aid.

 When asked if they were aware of any explosions during the course of the fire, both Mayor Bradley and Chief Lyman said they did not personally hear or see any explosions, but that they had heard others did. As far as any idea as to the cause of the fire, all parties said an investigation is underway. Lyman explained that the cause and origin team go into the investigation with open minds. "They rule out all possible causes such as electrical, or someone smoking, until they come to a determination.

No one would offer a ball park figure as to the financial loss caused by the fire. Mayor Bradley would only say that if you put $1 million out there as a guess, yes it surely would be at least that much. 

STRESS ON THE WATER SUPPLY

On Wednesday, many White Plains residents received a recorded phone message indicating the city was in a water emergency. Commissioner Nicoletti explained that because of work being done at the Kensico Dam, the District 1 Water area including White Plains, Scarsdale, Yonkers and North Castle were experiencing a water shortage. Early on Thursday, leaders from these municipalities met (primarily because the mayor of Yonkers was concerned about having enough water pressure to fight a fire in Yonkers) and managed to separate White Plains and North Castle from the group. Nicoletti said this alleviated some of the water supply concern and that White Plains residents were not mandated to conserve, but that they should. He specifically stated that watering driveways and sidewalks already was not permitted because of storm water runoff regulations.

 Of the 15 milion to 15.5 million gallons of water used each day in White Plains, Nicoletti said about 35 percent went to irrigation--people watering their lawns. "It is not necessary to water your lawn every day for long periods of time," he said.

 On Wednesday, because of the fire, 17 million gallons of water were used in White Plains. These are record water consumption numbers Nicoletti said, emphasizing again that residents were not mandated to conserve but that they were strong asked to comply.