Demolition begins after Jay Street Fire

Created: 03/08/2015 7:45 PM WNYT.com By: Dan Bazile

SCHENECTADY- It's like putting together a puzzle but in reverse, demolition crews and investigators are taking down 100 and 104 Jay St. in Schenectady one chunk at a time.

"Very methodical it's going to be a delayed and long process," says Lt. Mark McCracken, of Schenectady Police Department.

ATF's National Response Team is helping with that process, they along with fire investigators were seen doing a cite survey, looking for what needed to be secured structurally before the big rigs went to work.

The two buildings went up in flames around 2 a.m. Friday morning. It took firefighters until daylight to bring it under control. Ten people were injured, three of them firefighters. Police say several people are missing, they didn't have an exact number.

They put out a plea for anyone who either lived there or may have been inside and have not been formally interviewed by investigators to contact police. The people missing may have been trapped.

"Again it's just to determine who was definitely inside and who we can cross off the list and make sure they're safe and sound, says McCracken.

Police say some of those still missing may be casualties of the massive blaze. That's partly why they're being very careful with the demolition.

They're going to do a controlled demolition, examining the building in an attempt to gain some sort of evidence, determining how the fire how the fire started. And determining also if anyone was trapped inside, says McCracken.

But also they say to make sure the buildings on either side of the fire scene suffer minimal to no damage in the process.

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Demolition begins after Jay Street Fire