Roof fire lights up Glamour Night Club

The Port Chester Fire Department was dispatched to the Glamour Night Club at 114 N. Main St. at 4:20 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 27 for a report of heavy smoke coming from the roof. Passersby noticed the haze and called in the emergency, according to Fire Chief Herbert Bocchino.

Four minutes later, volunteer firefighters were on the scene, and seeing the smoke themselves, they called for backup.

In a matter of minutes, engines from Rye Brook, Rye City, Purchase and the Town of Mamaroneck joined on scene, as well as EMS, the Port Chester Police Department and the Westchester County Cause and Origin Team. Around 75 firefighters, including 50 from Port Chester, reported, according to Bocchino.

The cause of the blaze was determined to be a torch that workers had been using to fix the rubber membrane roof, he said. They had been attempting to patch a leak near a drainpipe when they accidentally caught the rafters ablaze.

Flames quickly ate through the rafters and down one of the building’s walls.

The workers tried to put out the blaze, Bocchino said, but it was too much for them to mitigate on their own.

Two of the workers were stranded on the roof, while a third—an electrician who had been working downstairs—got stuck exiting between the two sets of front doors.

It took authorities around half an hour to mitigate the fire, and they were able to prevent it from spreading to neighboring buildings, which were evacuated when it was reported. They were also able to rescue all three workers who had become trapped by the blaze.

Bocchino said the building’s structure was saved as well, though the gas and electric were shut off. He said it might be a long time before Glamour Night Club reopens.

No injuries were reported from the incendiary incident, and those evacuated from neighboring buildings were let back in.