Watertown firefighters searched vacant Derouin’s building before safety withdrawal

The former Derouin’s Heating and Plumbing building was vacant, but firefighters could not assume it was empty. Crews entered through heavy smoke and flames early Monday in Watertown, New York, to fight the fire and search for anyone inside, then withdrew while the building’s structural integrity was assessed. No one was ultimately found, and no injuries were reported. Smoke and firefighting water, however, damaged the structure throughout. ^{1 2}

The November 2 fire at Mill and Newell streets left neighboring buildings unaffected, according to the Watertown Daily Times/NNY360. Its cause remains under investigation. Officials have raised the possibility that people experiencing homelessness had been sheltering inside and may have caused it, but neither an ignition mechanism nor a responsible person has been established. ²

One other uncertainty matters immediately to drivers: the documented closure of Mill Street between Main Avenue and Black River Parkway dates to Monday morning. Its status as of November 4 has not been verified. The fact that responders later left the property is not confirmation that the road reopened.

WWNY’s initial account put the call at around 4:45 a.m. Monday, local Eastern Standard Time. That is an approximate time when help was summoned, not a confirmed time when the fire started. Crews were still at the scene at 8 a.m., when the station reported the Mill Street closure. ¹

Firefighters found heavy smoke and fire inside. They made an initial attack and searched the immediate area before pulling back to fight from outside while the structure was assessed. Once conditions were judged safe enough, crews reentered, extinguished the remaining fire and completed their search. The department said no one was found inside. ²

Officials told WWNY that the building’s heavy construction helped contain the blaze. That containment spared neighboring properties, but it did not spare the former business building from damage: smoke and water reached throughout. No verified repair estimate, dollar loss or final structural-safety determination is available. The temporary decision to let crews back inside should not be mistaken for a finding about the building’s long-term condition. ^{1 2}

The injury finding also became clearer as Monday’s reporting developed. WWNY’s first account left possible injuries unknown; its updated report said there were none. NNY360 separately reported no firefighter injuries. The later finding resolves that early uncertainty rather than contradicting a confirmed injury report. ^{1 2}

Fire and police personnel remained until just after 10:15 a.m. for checks for remaining fire and investigative work, InformNNY reported. The property was then secured and returned to its owner. Fort Drum Fire assisted, along with Watertown police, the city’s public works, water and codes departments, National Grid and Guilfoyle Emergency Medical Services. ¹⁶

Investigators have evidence that people had been entering the vacant property. The building had been broken into, and mattresses were found near where the fire began, toward the back of the first floor, fire officials told NNY360. WWNY reported an open rear door. A passerby also told the station that a window was not boarded up and that a rope had been seen hanging from it. ^{2 1}

Those details support investigating whether someone was using the building for shelter. They do not identify who was there, establish when anyone last entered or explain how the fire ignited. Likewise, a completed search that found no one cannot establish who may have occupied the building earlier. Officials’ suspicion about people sheltering inside remains a hypothesis, not a settled cause.

The danger to the firefighters sent in was less speculative. Watertown Fire Chief Matt Timerman described the hazards of working in vacant buildings in an interview with WWNY. ¹

There is a painful local history beside this site. Timerman said two Watertown firefighters suffered career-ending injuries in a 2018 fire at the neighboring building, which was lost after someone intentionally set the blaze. Those injuries belong to that earlier incident, not Monday’s fire, and the earlier finding of intentional ignition says nothing about the cause now under investigation. ¹

Timerman urged owners to keep buildings maintained and well lit, visit frequently, ask neighbors to watch them and consider security systems. Police Chief Cristin Lyon told WWNY that officers regularly check properties, including when owners request checks before going away, but cannot be everywhere at once. ¹

For the former Derouin’s building, the remaining questions are concrete: what started the fire, what repairs are needed and what a final structural assessment will show. For Mill Street, an explicit reopening confirmation is still missing. Monday’s emergency response is documented; its departure time cannot answer every question the fire left behind.