(Photo: Patrick Oehler/Poughkeepsie Journal)
Gap, workers will need help after massive fire
Poughkeepsie Journal Editorial Board 9:56 p.m. EDT August 31, 2016
Considering the massive size of the blaze, the community should be extremely grateful no one was injured or killed at The Gap Distribution Center in Fishkill Monday night.
Firefighters did exceptional work to suppress the blaze, and employees were able to make it out safely. The Gap has people working during all sorts of shifts, so a fire breaking out at night could have had far more devastating consequences than for some businesses. Flames shot out of the building, and sections of the facade and roof caved as the blaze raged. Journal staffers reported that the heat from the flames could be felt from the access road leading to the facility.
The actual damage and cause are still being assessed, but there still is plenty of cause for concern. The fire caused millions of dollars in property and product damage, and The Gap is a major employer in the area, so the community will have to wait with great interest to see what the extent of the economic consequences might be. The center has multiple buildings, but the entire site has been shut down as result of the blaze.
Dutchess County officials rightly pointed out the priority will be to assist displaced employees and then get an assessment from company leaders regarding when part of the operation can get up and running.
State and federal officials also have a role here, and it's imperative they work in concert with the company to provide workers with assistance and get the facility back in business in the area. First, though, fire officials have to deem the area safe and complete their initial investigation. State police ask anyone who may have information regarding the fire to call 845-677-7300.
The facility opened in September 2000 and has expanded over time. Most recently, company officials were investing $96 million to upgrade the distribution center and add 1,200 jobs over the next few years.
These manufacturing jobs are an important component to the local economy. Economic-development officials provided the company with tax credits tied to how many jobs are created and retained over a period of time and may have to recalibrate these deals and also consider what might be best in the short term to provide help. That is just a sliver of the financial matters that will have to be sorted through as a consequence of this blaze.
For now, the community should give thanks to the firefighters who toiled on the scene and recognize the efforts being made to help the displaced workers and their families.
This fire will cause pain and hardship, but the worst part is over – and, through good work and fortune, it came with no loss of life.
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Inspector: No violations at Gap building during 2015 inspection
Abbott Brant, Nina Schutzman and John Ferro, Poughkeepsie Journal 9:43 p.m. EDT August 31, 2016
What we know about the Gap warehouse fire in Fishkill as of Wednesday afternoon. John Ferro/Patrick Oehler/Poughkeepsie Journal
(Photo: Patrick Oehler/Poughkeepsie Journal)
As police and federal officials continue to search for answers in the massive blaze that destroyed a building at the Gap Inc. distribution center in Fishkill, a local building inspector said Wednesday no violations were found during its last inspection.
Demolition of an exterior wall of the building that was "at risk of collapse," according to state police, began Wednesday night.
Meanwhile, Dutchess County is working with economic leaders around the Hudson Valley to help Gap and its 1,300 employees, who were unable to go to work again on Wednesday.
More than 100 firefighters from more than 20 departments across three counties responded to the fire on the multi-building property late Monday night, using more than a million gallons of water to knock down the blaze. Building 100, the 990,000-square-foot building that was heavily damaged by fire, heat and smoke, remains inaccessible, Assistant Dutchess County Executive Ron Hicks said.
Village of Fishkill Building and Fire Inspector Thomas VanTine is in charge of making sure codes are enforced in Building 100. The Gap has two independent companies that annually inspect the building's fire suppression system and sprinkler system and submit reports to the village, VanTine said.
The village last inspected the structure on Aug. 20, 2015, and "no violations were found at that time," said VanTine who had "no concerns" about the safety of the building.
Another building on the property, Building 110, sustained smoke damage during the fire but was cleared by the ATF Wednesday, which will allow Gap officials to assess the damage to that building. Central Hudson was able to isolate the building and "reenergize" it, Hicks said, but gas remains offline to the campus.
The 1,300 employees impacted by the facility's closure, including the 600 that worked in the building that erupted in flames, were paid by Gap on Tuesday, Hicks said. Gap will also continue to pay all employees Wednesday, he said.
A Gap spokeswoman could not immediately confirm the company's plans for its local employees going forward.
Spokeswoman Debbie Felix also said she could not confirm whether the building's fire-suppression systems worked.
"A lot of the detail we just don’t have at this time," Felix said. "We don’t have access to the places inside where the fire was."
A portion of the Gap distribution center warehouse was torn down on Wednesday night. Patrick Oehler/Poughkeepsie Journal
VanTine said his inspections, which might last about 90 minutes, focus on "general life safety" — making sure the alarms sound properly and flash visibly, that fire extinguishers have up-to-date (yearly) inspection tags, that fire exits are clear and well-marked.
During a typical inspection, "you're escorted around (the structure) by someone from the company," VanTine added. "They activate the (fire) alarms upon my request." But the "actual testing of the systems ... that’s done by the independent companies," VanTine said.
State police, the lead agency investigating the fire, is working closely with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives' National Response team to determine how the devastating blaze began, according to state police spokeswoman Melissa McMorris.
The Fishkill facility is located alongside I-84, off exit 13, where it intersects with Route 9.
According to Hicks, economic development officials in Orange, Putnam and Ulster counties have worked with Dutchess County to identify available warehouse spaces in the surrounding area in the event Gap "needs contingency operational space in the region."
The county executive's office continues to work with the state Department of Labor, the Dutchess County Workforce Investment Board, Empire State Development and representatives from Gov. Andrew Cuomo's office to further discuss how local and state resources can help employees, Hicks said.
Felix said the company has contingency plans in place and is "working across our North American network of distributions centers to continue to serve our customers."
An overview of what we know about the fire at the Fishkill Gap distribution center. Patrick Oehler, John Ferro, and Alex H. Wagner/Poughkeepsie Journal
A major employer in the region, Gap Inc. announced plans in 2014 to add 1,200 jobs over a five-year span, and invest $96 million into the Fishkill facility. At the time of the announcement, the facility had more than 425 employees.
Most jobs at a distribution center are warehouse-type work, moving boxes of merchandise around and keeping track of them with scanners and computers.There's truck unloading and loading, as well as some other support jobs like supervisory, security, maintenance and administrative roles.
The facility opened in September 2000, according to Journal archives, and expanded a year later.