preview

Elmira Knitting Factory Fire Research Paper

Satisfactory Essays

ELMIRA HEIGHTS (WENY) - Fire crews were on scene for nearly 24 hours spraying water at a warehouse on Prescott Avenue. The fire at 250 Presscott Avenue broke out Sunday night around 8 P.M. and needed at least ten different departments to battle the flames.

Elmira Heights Police arrested two 16-year-old boys and charged them with arson. Officer Stephen Cook of the Elmira Heights Police Department tells WENY News the teens became persons of interest around around midnight. Around 3 A.M. the teens were arrested and brought before a judge. Authorities haven't released how the teens allegedly caused the fire. Police says the teenagers will be charged as adults but their names wont be released because they're eligible as youthful offenders. …show more content…

"The Elmira Knitting Mill made undershirts and underwear during World War II. They made a lot military undershirts and underwear and actually received a commendation from the United States Marine Corps," explains Dworkin.

According to Tom Witzel, the owner of Hesselsons, who currently owns the building, says after the knitting mill went out of business in the 1960's it was home to Burruss Storage company. "Prior to Hesselsons's owning it, it had been a moving and storage company that went out of business in '92 so it sat vacant for a few years. Every year different towns and municipalities would place it up for auction so Tom Hesselson actually bought it," says Witzel.

For the past twenty years Hesselsons has been using the warehouse to store inventory. Fortunately, just a few weeks ago Hesselsons moved a majority of its stuff into a new warehouse closer to their business. "So a lot of the stuff had been moved out which is obviously good for us. If this had happened a month ago, who knows what would have happened. We had still had some hot tub and pool stuff over there, a lot of shelving and racking and hot tub parts over there and some generators," says

Get Access