Five-Hour Firefight on Box Car Lane: Taunton Crews Battle Water Woes and Dense Smoke

Taunton, NY - Firefighters from the Taunton Fire Department spent over seven hours on scene Thursday night, battling intense fire conditions, restricted access, and intermittent water supply complications during a third-alarm commercial fire along Box Car Lane in the Fairmount Fire District.

The incident began at approximately 5:02 p.m. on September 24, 2026, when Taunton was activated on mutual aid for what was initially called in as a possible residential structure fire near the 3300 block of Milton Avenue, driven by numerous 911 calls reporting heavy black smoke columns.

Emergency communications quickly updated the location to the 4000 block of Box Car Lane. First-arriving units encountered heavy smoke and active, advanced fire rolling from a single-story commercial storage facility. Fairmount command promptly declared a "Signal 99" for a working fire and struck a second alarm shortly thereafter to bring additional suppression apparatus to the scene.

Taunton dispatched Engine 4 (Firefighter Darling), Ladder 5 (Captain Taylor), and Car 3 (Assistant Chief Martin) to the fireground, while keeping Engine 6 (Firefighter Duck) fully staffed back at Station 1 to protect the home district.

On scene, interior and elevated master stream operations were severely challenged by limited physical access around the storage units and intermittent municipal water supply pressures. As conditions grew more complex, command escalated the response to a third alarm, bringing in more mutual aid manpower and tankers.

Taunton crews mounted an aggressive exterior and perimeter attack lasting more than five consecutive hours. Ladder 5 and Engine 4 operated through heavy smoke until clearing around 10:30 p.m., at which point Engine 6 moved to the fireground to provide relief manpower for exhausted interior crews. All Taunton apparatus officially returned to service shortly before 12:15 a.m. Friday morning.