Dunsmoor Onion Farm Fire Still Smoldering Sunday Jan. 10

Firefighters fight onion farm fire. Drone photo by Shawn Cathcart

Update on Dunsmoor onion farm fire:

Oswego Town Fire Department Chief Greg Herrmann said the fire scene on Route 104 at the Dunsmoor onion farm still was smoldering Jan. 10 when fire officials went back to the scene.

A total of 20 fire departments and 39 pieces of fire apparatus fought the Jan. 2 blaze. Area residents reported hearing explosions just before seeing flames bellowing up from the Dunsmoor onion farm.

Onions piled in front of the collapsed Dunsmoor building Jan. 2. Drone photo by Shawn Cathcart

Herrmann said 46,000 square feet of processing area and storage area were destroyed.

Herrmann didn't know exactly how many onions were lost, but said "it was a hair less" than the amount lost by Sorbello and Son Farms in a December 2013 fire at that Granby farm. A packing, sorting, grading and storage facility and about 115,000 50-pound units of onions were lost in the Sorbello fire. 

Herrmann said a processing facility and a connected storage building were destroyed in the Dunsmoor fire. He said it was difficult to fight and to put out all smoldering areas because the onions were tightly packed in wooden crates and the building was steel with a steel roof. He said the only way to get to all the burning areas would be to cut through all that steel.

Herrmann said the fire began in a truck that was parked outside the facility at the loading dock. But officials have not yet determined what happened to the truck to start the fire. 

Sorbello Farms Loses Most of this Season's Onion Crop in Fire

A huge fire in Granby has destroyed a packing, sorting, grading and storage building at the Sorbello and Sons onion farm.

Morris Sorbello said he was called at about 4:45 p.m. Tuesday about the fire. Sorbello is an Oswego County legislator representing the Granby area and had been in Oswego for a legislature committee meeting.

"The most important thing is no one was hurt," he said Wednesday morning.

Sorbello said he lost most of this year's onion crop that was being stored in the building -- about 115,000 50-pound units. The building, which is actually three buildings hooked together by tunnels, also is a loss.

He said firefighters still are at the scene Wednesday morning and the fire is still smoldering.

He also lost equipment in the building used for the sorting and grading of onions. He is insured.

An exact cause of the fire has not been determined, but Sorbello said it may have been electrical. He said his son had been in the building at about 4 p.m. and had hooked up an electrical charger to a machine and that may have malfunctioned.

More than 20 Ag Leaders Speak at Ag Forum in Watertown

From state Sen. Patricia Ritchie:

Morris Sorbello, an onion farmer and county legislator from Granby in Oswego County, speaks to the panel of senators. Photo from JJ Schell of Cooperative Extension

Agriculture leaders from across New York state shared their thoughts on how to cut red tape and expand their industry at a forum hosted by state Senator Patricia Ritchie and her Senate colleagues Thursday in Watertown. 

The event — which also included Sen. Patrick Gallivan. R-Elma, Erie County, Sen. David Valesky, D-Oneida, Madison County, and Sen. Kathleen Marchione, R-Halfmoon, Saratoga, County — was the second in a series of industry-specific public forums on regulatory reform organized as part of the Senate Majority Coalition’s bipartisan effort to identify and eliminate at least 1,000 of the most costly government regulations that strangle business and job growth and drive up local taxes. 

“As with any business, farmers, and others in the agriculture industry experience many challenges including burdensome red tape and numerous regulations,” said Ritchie, who chairs the Senate Agriculture Committee. 

“The input provided at today’s forum will truly be invaluable as we move forward and continue the work we have already done to provide relief from mandates, rules and regulations that negatively affect our state’s biggest industry.”

More than two-dozen agriculture leaders attended Thursday’s forum, and topics discussed included:

·  Ensuring farms are able to secure agricultural labor

·  Supporting initiatives that further the availability of improved technology

·  Making power costs more manageable for farmers and others in the agriculture industry

·  Supporting initiatives that allow local farms to capitalize of New York’s growing yogurt industry

·  Making New York State regulations more compatible with Federal regulations

Additional forums are scheduled for Syracuse (manufacturing), Long Island (construction), Saratoga Springs (hospitality and tourism), Rockland County (small business), New York City (insurance and banking), Corning (manufacturing) and Rochester (biotechnology).

Go to http://centralny.ynn.com/content/news/697018/farmers-testify-about-troubles-with-overregulation/ for more information on the forum.