NARROWSBURG, NY — On Friday afternoon, June 23, a fire tore through the headquarters of Lang Industries. By Monday morning, owner Ned Lang was working at a temporary desk in a trailer on a small hill above the twisted metal hulk of the former Lenape Arena, 2.5 miles south of the hamlet of Narrowsburg. He was on the phone with one of his workers who was picking up supplies and planning the rebuild. 

“I lost 40 years of tools, equipment and trucks,” he said, as he surveyed the damage that had, in a matter of minutes, devoured the steel and wood building. 

“I was in Carbondale when my wife called me,” he said. “And I could hear the explosions; it sounded like Beirut. But thank God, no one was killed. Everyone got out.” 

A worker who had just returned from a truck run let himself into a locked area to put gas into a lawn mower. Unfortunately, he entered the closed space with a lit cigarette. The worker received second degree burns on his forearms and is expected to make a full recovery, Lang said.

“I’ve got trucks already ordered from New Holland and we’ll be up and running as soon as we can,” Lang said, adding that it was lucky that his solid waste facility, located just beyond the arena building, was not damaged. “The paint isn’t even blistered,” he said.

Firefighters from Lava and Narrowsburg were alerted for a structure fire with a victim burned shortly after 12 noon. Upon arrival, Narrowsburg Fire Department Fire Chief David Casey requested initial mutual aid with a full response from Yulan Fire Department and Lake Huntington Fire Company. The victim was treated by EMS from Tusten Volunteer Ambulance Service, Highland Ambulance Service and Mobilemedic EMS and transported to the hospital, according to the Narrowsburg Fire Department Facebook page.

With the building roof structure made of steel, it was hard to get the water on the fire since no one could enter the building, as trucks burned and small fuel tanks filled with diesel fuel, gas  and motor oil exploded from within, according to Lang.

Responding units attempted to set up water supply at two local ponds, but were met with difficulty with access and poor water conditions. With the pond levels low, and the water filled with algae, pumpers had difficulty sucking in the water without the pump mechanisms becoming fouled. Units established water supply at other locations, including the dry hydrant on Little Lake Erie in the hamlet. 

Casey requested ladder trucks from Callicoon Fire Department and Honesdale Fire Department, as well as tankers from Welcome Lake Fire and Rescue Inc., Beach Lake Fire Co., White Lake Fire Company, Hortonville Volunteer Fire Company, Jeffersonville Fire Department, Shohola Fire & Rescue, Lackawaxen Township Fire Department, Swan Lake Fire Department, Lumberland Fire Department, and Greeley Volunteer Fire and Rescue. White Mills Fire and EMS provided an engine for standby duty at the Narrowsburg firehouse, and numerous other departments handled standbys at other firehouses. 

Upper Delaware VAC and Lumberland Fire Dept and Glen Spey EMS provided EMS standby at the scene and assisted with firefighter rehab and refreshments. Sullivan County NY 911 and Sullivan County NY Bureau of Fire, as well as the Wayne and Pike County 911 Centers were credited with assistance.

By Monday afternoon, Lang had met with his insurance adjuster and reported that the Department of Environmental Conservation had visited the scene on Friday evening and rendered the blaze a catastrophic fire. They also indicated that there was no environmental damage beyond the heavy black smoke that filled the air on Friday afternoon.

“I don’t know if we can get a building up by winter, but we’re going to try,” Lang said. “What are you going to do? You gotta just keep going.”