Explosion, fire engulf Sloatsburg building, one person injured
An explosion at 265 Orange Turnpike in Sloatsburg set off a fast-moving fire, injuring one person and closing Route 17 near the Orange-Rockland line.
An explosion and fire tore through a building at 265 Orange Turnpike in the Village of Sloatsburg, injuring one person and drawing a multi-department response to one of southern Orange County’s busiest corridors. The blast happened around 10:46 a.m. Wednesday and quickly engulfed the structure.
Ramapo Town Police said all occupants evacuated safely, but the fire still forced Route 17 to close in the area and triggered an evacuation near the Orange-Rockland county line. Orange and Rockland County Fire said the incident escalated to a second-alarm structure fire after a reported gas explosion, signaling a response far larger than a routine building fire.
One person suffered serious injuries and was airlifted to Westchester Medical Center for treatment. The building sat on Old Route 17 in Sloatsburg, a stretch that carries local traffic, commuters and emergency vehicles through the village and toward the county border, making the shutdown especially disruptive for residents moving between Orange County and Rockland County.
Officials had not released a final cause by the time of the initial reports, but the early description pointed to a gas explosion inside a business. That detail raises immediate questions for investigators about how the blast started, how quickly the fire spread and what conditions inside the building allowed flames to move so fast through the property.
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