Cause of Fire at Concrete Plant in Montrose Under Investigation
News Based on facts, either observed and verified directly by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
The cause of a fire that broke out at a concrete plant and contractor’s yard near the Cortlandt Train Station in Montrose Saturday afternoon is under investigation.
The two-alarm blaze at Dakota Supply Corporation on Albany Post Road began around 12:30 p.m., with flames and heavy smoke visible for several miles. Dozens of firefighters from the area, including Montrose, Buchanan, Verplanck, Croton and Yorktown, responded.
“The fire was completely extinguished using foam provided by Westchester County’s Special Operations Unit and the VA Hazmat Unit,” said Cortlandt Supervisor Dr. Richard Becker. “We are grateful to our first responding firefighters who responded so quickly and professionally to this serious event on a winter’s day.”
The 10-acre property was cleared of emergency responders by 4:30. No injuries were reported, but about 40 firefighters who were exposed to burning chemicals used in the production of concrete and asphalt on the site were decontaminated at the scene.
Ralph Mastromonaco, a well-known licensed engineer who owns a townhouse 700 feet away from the plant, has raised concerns about the operations on the property since 2016.
Since that time. Mastromonaco has filed four lawsuits in seven years challenging three separate approvals by the Cortlandt Planning Board for various uses on the property.
Dakota Supply has been before the Planning Board for several months because the board failed to file a required environmental assessment report to the Westchester County Planning Department for review since it’s located on a state roadway. The application was postponed last week by the board until March.
Mastromonaco, who was not home Saturday, noted the fire started 85 feet from a fuel depot that has the capacity of holding 6,000 gallons of diesel fuel.
“This could have been a much worse tragedy,” Mastromonaco said. “This is all part of the problem. There are so many issues there and nobody is watching out.”
The property is owned by Bilotta Realty of Westchester, Inc., with its principal being Jay Bilotta, a former member of the Planning Board.
At a hearing last October, Bilotta addressed the board, saying, “We are monitored by the Board of Health and the DEC (Department of Environmental Conservation). We have done everything to make it safe for our workers and safe for our community.”
Rick has more than 40 years’ experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, running the gamut from politics and crime to sports and human interest. He has been an editor at Examiner Media since 2012. Read more from Rick’s editor-author bio here. Read Rick’s work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/pezzullo_rick-writer/
