Firefighters on Day 3 at Historic Middletown Psychiatric Center

PHOTO: Nick Elia, Middletown Fire Department

Firefighters are on Day 3 at the historic Middletown Psychiatric Center, where a massive fire has destroyed the historic, abandoned main building.

They first had to break into the abandoned property and now they’re working through the rubble to eradicate hot spots.

The Middletown Fire Department has been assisted by 14 mutual aid companies at scene plus their own apparatus. Some mutual aid companies had multiple pieces of apparatus. At the height of the blaze, there were 90-100 firefighters on scene, said Assistant Chief Don Luis, Jr.

The famous center, built in 1874, even has its own Wikipedia site under its original name, and its own entry on the Abandoned Hudson Valley Facebook page. AHV talks about previous fires on the campus, which at its height served more than a thousand patients:

Like many other institutions, fires plagued Middletown. The first, in 1905, destroyed little more than a couch and piano. The second, in 1909, started when an alcohol burner exploded in a laboratory, and losses were also minimal. In 1921, a huge fire of unknown origin destroyed the facility’s imposing Administration Building. Heroic efforts on the part of nurses prevented any loss of life. The Administration Building was rebuilt in 1927

Since it closed, it has attracted trespassers, many wanting to explore what the Times Herald Record called ”the spooky interior.”

“If there were any ghosts there,” Duty Chief Art Battisti told recordonline.com, “they’re gone now.”

The cause of the fire is under investigation.