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Fire in Utica leaves 10 people homeless

Story Created: Jul 30, 2010 at 8:22 PM EDT

Story Updated: Jul 31, 2010 at 10:38 AM EDT

UTICA, N.Y. (WKTV) - Utica firefighters battled a blaze on Blandina Street for more than five hours Friday night. The fire at a 3 story apartment building left 10 people homeless.

When firefighters arrived at the scene around 7:45 p.m. Friday night, smoke and flames were seen coming out of the first floor of the three story building. Firefighters were on scene until 1:30 Saturday morning.

Fire officials say there are six apartments in the building, but only one tenant was home at the time, and he actually called 9-1-1.

Investigators say all occupants of the building have been located, except for one, Cassandra Ottero, who lived in a first floor apartment.
Other tenants say they had not seen Otterro for several days.

Firefighters were ordered out of the building because of deteriorating conditions. After firefighters were pulled from teh structure, a major portion of the roof collapsed.

Investigators say they will head back into the building today, after all of the smoldering pockets are out, to try and determine a cause.

The local chapter of the American Red Cross was onhand to help a total of ten residents with clothing, shelter and mental health counseling.

American Red Cross officials say you can help the victims of this fire and other local disasters by making a financial gift to:

American Red Cross of the Mohawk Valley
1415 Genesee Street, Utica NY 13501

or give the red cross a call at 315-733-4666.
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