Fire at Straus News' Chester office

A fire broke out at Straus News' Chester office on Thursday night. The building, which contains two offices on the ground floor in addition to the newspaper's office on the second floor, sustained some structural damage and smoke damage. Firefighters at the scene said it was an electrical fire although they don't know what exactly caused it. A janitor who was cleaning the office said the lights began flickering and about 10 minutes later he smelled smoke. At that point he called the fire department. Fire personnel said the fire started in an office on the ground floor and at one point flames could be seen climbing up a corner of the building. Straus' web servers and other equipment went untouched. At least four fire departments responded to the scene including those from Chester, Goshen and Monroe. The Orange County Fire Inspector was also on scene. "We appreciate the fire department's quick response and are gratified that no one was injured in the fire," said Jeanne Straus, publisher of Straus News and owner of the building. No injuries were reported but tensions ran high when someone who was in the building became trapped in the parking lot due to emergency vehicles blocking the exit. He was soon let out once the fire was under control. Straus News is located at 20 West Ave. in Chester, NY. They publish The Chronicle, a newsweekly serving Goshen and Chester, in addition to eight other newsweeklies on the border between New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. They also publish Dirt, a green-living magazine. Check back with www.thephoto-news.com for more on this story.