SYRACUSE, N.Y. – On March 1, 2023, at 10:12 a.m., Syracuse Fire Department personnel were alerted to a possible emergency at 821 E. Brighton Avenue, Brighton Towers. Firefighters and ambulance personnel arrived on the scene within minutes. Personnel made their way to apartment 607 in Tower 1, where they found two deceased individuals and one patient who was critically ill. The patient was treated, transported to a local hospital by American Medical Response, and later discharged.
Due to the two unattended deaths, Syracuse Police remained on the scene to await the Medical Examiner, while Fire and Ambulance personnel departed. A short time later, Syracuse Police officers reported that they began to feel ill and requested EMS and fire back to the scene. It quickly became apparent that this was potentially a hazardous scene, and some unknown contaminant was possibly responsible for the illness. The Syracuse Fire Department HAZMAT team was requested to the scene and responded. Additional command and support staff from Syracuse Fire and Syracuse Police also responded. A command center was established on the first floor of Brighton Towers.
When Syracuse Fire Department HAZMAT arrived, they began information gathering to formulate a plan to identify, analyze and mitigate any hazards. Three Syracuse Police officers were identified to have been possibly exposed and were treated by medical staff on the scene, including AMR and Syracuse Fire Department Ambulance. The Syracuse Police Officers and one Syracuse firefighter, who were part of the initial response, were transported to Upstate University Hospital for symptoms ranging from nausea to elevated heart rate. On arriving at the hospital, patients were decontaminated and received care. At one point, several hospital personnel also began feeling ill. The Emergency Department was shut down for approximately two hours and fifteen minutes to manage the patients and prevent further exposures. At the time of this writing, all Syracuse Fire and Syracuse Police personnel who were transported have been released from the hospital.
Additional fire personnel were requested to the scene to assist with the evacuation of the 6th floor of Tower 1 as a precautionary measure. Firefighters from Station 8 (S. Salina St.) and Station 9 (Shuart Ave.) responded to the scene to assist. Once all residents of the floor were evacuated, the HAZMAT team made entry to the incident apartment and were able to collect and analyze samples. Firefighters were unable to definitively identify a specific hazard. The investigation continues into what caused the deaths and symptoms.
Firefighters monitored the air and determined that residents of the 6th floor were able to safely return to their apartments before 6 p.m.
The HAZMAT team continued to analyze the samples collected while other members began the process of decontamination of the elevators to allow residents to use them. The NYS Police Contaminated Crime Scene Emergency Response Team, which specializes in hazardous crime scene clean-up, was requested to the scene to clean up the apartment where the incident occurred.
Large, complex incidents such as this one present a unique challenge for first responders. A coordinated effort by the multiple agencies involved minimized the dangers to other occupants of Brighton Towers and the public.
Additional agencies that responded to the scene, other than Syracuse Fire and Syracuse Police, include American Medical Response (AMR), Onondaga County Emergency Management, SUNY Upstate Police, SUNY Upstate, Emergency Management, TLC Ambulance, the Onondaga County Medical Examiner, Fayetteville Ambulance, and Liberty Resources. Onondaga County Executive J. Ryan McMahon II, Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh, Police Chief Joe Cecile, and Fire Chief Mike Monds provided a community update on Wednesday afternoon.