Shorthanded fire crews save Aurora St. home

While a storied section of Collegetown burned less than a mile away, another fire threatened a house on South Aurora Street, drawing firefighters already stretched thin to save the home.

Construction workers digging at 605 S. Aurora St. pulled up an unmarked electrical line around 10 a.m. Tuesday, according to Lt. Tom Basher, of the Ithaca Fire Department. The line shorted and caused a fire in the basement that filled the home with smoke.

Some firefighters left the scene of the Chapter House fire — a two-building blaze that firefighters had been battling since 4:30 a.m. — to help douse the basement fire before it threatened major damage to the home.

A resident at the home smelled the smoke and was able to escape without injury, Basher said. The construction workers saw flames and called 911, he said.

The one-story home is under construction, and most of the front yard had been dug out and the foundation exposed. Fire crews on Tuesday worked around mounds of dirt and an excavator parked in the driveway as they suppressed the fire.

While Ithaca fire crews are usually the ones to supply mutual aid to neighboring fire departments, this time it was the help of other departments to assist the Ithaca crews, Basher said. A detachment of Ithaca firefighters at the central station were joined by the other crews to contain the house fire.

"We were already hurting for people. We had really two buildings on fire up at the Chapter House, so we brought everyone to bear there," said Basher, who estimated three-quarters of the total fire department personnel responded to the Stewart Avenue scene throughout the morning.

"We hustled up there and made short work of it," Basher said of the smaller South Aurora Street scene. He praised the Enfield, Dryden and Newfield fire crews for their help in bringing the fire under control.

Follow Matthew Hayes on Twitter @CNYmhayes.