by TEVAH PLATT
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- More than 100 Staten Islanders, including pre-school-aged children in day care, were evacuated from the South Shore YMCA in Eltingville yesterday morning after a construction worker's torch set fire to the roof of the Richmond Avenue facility.
A firefighter sustained a minor arm injury but no others were hurt in the all-hands fire, Fire Department EMS Capt. Wayne Baskin said.
Construction staff from the Deer Park, L.I.-based Roof Services Co., working on a planned teen fitness center that was to open by the end of the year, pulled the fire alarm. Laborers Angel Sanchez and Joel Alvarado pulled a fire hose out of the stairwell to the roof and began dousing the flames before FDNY units responded to a 911 call placed around 10:45 a.m.
As smoke alarms sounded, the YMCA staff of 25 initiated the agency's emergency evacuation plan, guiding 50 gym members and 60 children from the facility's Early Childhood and Universal Pre-K programs out of the building. The children were taken to the YMCA Counseling Service building down the block and their parents were called for early pickup.
A worker was cutting into a beam with a torch, said Roof Services worker David Hall, when flying embers apparently sparked the fire. Hall said an opening in the roof acted like a chimney, helping smoke to escape from the facility and making the fire easier to control.
Witnesses said the fire started above a second-floor fitness storage room near the gym.
Firefighters put out the fire quickly, Baskin said.
"Everything was done quickly and effectively," said an Annadale woman who had been swimming in the pool when the fire broke out. "I have nothing but high praise for the Y."
FDNY and EMS trucks surrounded the facility and evacuees looked on while emergency workers responded at the scene.
Bill Carrier of New Springville held and kissed his granddaughter, 18-month-old Ashley, who had been evacuated along with her mother.
The South Shore YMCA was closed for the remainder of the day and its afternoon child care sessions were canceled, said YMCA spokesman Kevin Shermach.
"The FDNY did a great job of confining the fire to the fitness room on the second floor," said Shermach.
The extent of fire and water damage in that area was not immediately clear; YMCA officials are assessing the damage and will later determine when the facility will reopen.
Until then, the agency is directing members to use the Broadway YMCA at 651 Broadway in West Brighton; updates will be posted on the South Shore YMCA's Web site: www.ymcanyc.org/southshore.
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