Fire At Vacant 'Abercrombie & Fitch' Castle Tests Fire Crews' Fabric

NEW CASTLE, NY — A fire at a relatively new castle in New Castle created unexpected challenges for firefighters battling a blaze at the now vacant former home of David T. Abercrombie.

Shortly before midnight, the Millwood Fire Department was called to a report of a building with flames and smoke near Croton Dam Road (Route 134). All 3 Millwood chiefs immediately responded to the call, but because the exact location of the fire at the disused estate was not known, firefighters began a search of the area.

Chief Raguso found a castle-like structure on fire set well back from the road, with fire spanning all five floors, but getting equipment to the castle proved to be easier said than done.

Millwood Fire Captain Greg Santone said that both entrances allowing access to the former Abercrombie estate were gated and locked. The narrow drives bordered by heavily wooded terrain made for a tight squeeze for the department's larger firefighting equipment.

After cutting a lock to access the long-abandoned Elda Castle property, the Mini-Attack 10 (a 2012 Ford F-550 Super Duty pickup truck with a 10 food cab on the back that holds 300 gallons of water and 3 hose lines) was the only equipment initially able to access the largely overgrown quarter-mile-long driveway strewn with downed trees. The downed trees had to be removed before larger equipment could be backed closer to the burning castle.

Because of the lack of hydrants in the area, Bedford Hills Fire Department Tanker 5 was also called to the scene. The Mini-Attack 10 stretched its 5-inch supply line down the driveway to be fed by the tankers on scene. Millwood Tanker 15 was positioned as the "nurse" tanker, sending water directly up to MA10 through the 5-inch line, while Tankers 5 and 10 were used to supply Tanker 15.

Millwood, Croton and Bedford Hills members stretched 3 lines and worked on extinguishing the fire for nearly 2 hours. Firefighters searched the burning castle to confirm that there was no one inside the vacant building, which is sometimes used illicitly as a hangout for teenagers.

The Westchester County Police Department Arson Investigation Team with Acorn the arson detection dog and the New Castle Building Department were requested to the scene after the flames were extinguished. Fire officials said this is routine when the cause of a building fire isn't immediately identifiable.

Remarkably, although all 5 floors of the historic castle were engulfed by fire, Santone said the stone and steel structure that has been vacant for more than 20 years remains substantially intact.

"If somebody wanted to restore it," Santone marveled, "they probably could."