Fires that shaped the department

A devastating fire destroyed a large malt house and its contents in North Rose — a striking edifice and prominent local business owned by John York Jr. The malting industry was a vital part of Wayne County's agricultural economy, capitalizing on New York's ideal climate for barley and hops, and the towering malt house served as a major architectural and business landmark in the hamlet.

"The fire having caught in the upper part of the east end of the building, which was built of wood, it soon reached the part built of brick containing the large copper kiln, which were melted down, and in a short time the west end was ablaze — taking in all 200 feet of burning timbers and thousands of bushels of malt."

A telegram was sent to John York Jr., then at Burnham Howell Co., Missouri, and to Messrs. J. S. & W. Brown of New York, lessees of the malt house. The loss on the building and contents was estimated at $175,000, partly covered by insurance — purchasing power of roughly $6.5 million in 2026. This was, twenty years before the community's petition for a fire company, a defining moment in North Rose's push to organize.

The 1917 fire came just two years after the charter, at a time when the organization had acquired no equipment, membership was unrecorded, and training was minimal. Though the department is now more than 110 years old, this is likely the costliest incident on record — an estimated $2.6 million in today's money — and it was devastating to a growing and prosperous community.

The fire started in the attic of M. E. Newberry's store — a frame building, three stories and a basement, filled with general stock including furniture — between 11:30 and 11:45 a.m. At noon a call went to the Wolcott fire department. The Chemical Company drew their double-barreled engine to the railroad, where a locomotive and two cars came from North Rose and the party was soon underway. A chemical company arrived by special train from Sodus, and others came overland by auto-truck from Rose and Clyde.

A fresh breeze blew from the west. There was no stopping the fire, and it swept south, clean to the railroad tracks. The Newberry store was soon in ruins. Next came Quereau & Son's general store, the post office, C. H. Garlic's drugs and general stock, Gray Bros. Hardware, and then the old post-office building near the tracks. The telephone office grew too hot for occupancy and the operators fled, breaking communication except over the railroad telegraph wires.

North Rose had no waterworks. The chemical crews were powerless against the overpowering heat — the men holding hose had to be shielded with old doors held in front of them. They saved much property nonetheless, limiting the scope of the fire and putting out incipient blazes from flying embers again and again. Their skill fighting the fire in the Benedict onion and apple warehouse, lined with sawdust and full of onions, was greatly to their credit; had it gone, other warehouses would have been in danger.

The Quereau dwelling attached to the store was destroyed with most of its contents. The T. B. Welch and Frank Hill residences caught several times from embers and were saved each time, though windows in the front of the Welch house were knocked out by heat and flying coal. Some buildings on the east side of the street were saved by standing green planking in front of them, on which the chemicals played their streams — in this way the Miner building, containing the Advocate office, was kept from burning.

"There were hustling times during the progress of the fire. Merchants and householders in its presumed pathway were moving out, and every team in town was pressed into service." The last big fire, the article notes, had occurred twenty-five years before — believed to be the Malt House.

At approximately 12:15 p.m. on a Monday, an industrial accident at the Sodus Cold Storage in North Rose produced a fire and a series of explosions. About 750 residents endured seventy-two hours of uncertainty, anxiety and fear. The hamlet was evacuated. Hundreds of first responders from across Wayne County answered the call.