‘We’re brothers’ Firefighters inside Boonville church explosion undergo recovery
BOONVILLE, N.Y. — The New York State Police released new details on the gas explosion at Abundant Life Fellowship Church in Boonville, Oneida County, N.Y.
On Wednesday, the state police said an investigation determined that a slumping roof damaged a propane fuel line. The roof was slumping due to heavy snow. The fire department was trying to find the electrical panel to shut off the power to the building before addressing the propane leak when the explosion occurred.
The explosion injured Boonville Fire Chief David Pritchard Jr., 60, and firefighters Nicholas Amicucci, 43, Richard Czajka, 71 and Allan Austin, 67. Pastor Brandon Pitts, 43, was also hurt in the incident.
The state police said Pritchard Jr. and Pitts were upgraded from critical condition to fair condition on Wednesday afternoon. Amicucci and Czajka remain in critical condition. No update was provided on Austin’s condition on Wednesday. At last check, he was listed in critical condition.
Boonville First Assistant Fire Chief Dean Yauger said 45 of the department’s 62 members responded to the church on State Route 12 around 10:30 a.m. on Feb. 17. They were investigating an odor of natural gas. Yauger described the fire department as a family.
“We’ve been together for a long time and our kids grew up together,” said Yauger. “We go to clan bakes together. We go to softball games together. We march in parades together. We’re brothers.”
The First Assistant Fire Chief noted that some members have been serving with the Boonville Fire Department for 40 years.
Inside the fire department’s station on Wednesday, there were tables full of donated food, gift cards and supplies.
Pritchard Jr.’s sister, Renee Reed, said she found out about her brother’s injury through a phone call. It’s the type of phone no one wants to receive.
“That’s the worst kind of phone call to get,” she said. She described, “Just that there had been a bad accident with an explosion and my brother was in the hospital.”
Pritchard’s niece, Corrine Rauscher, described her experience. She said that discussing the incident with her family was agonizing.
“My oldest son was under the impression that Uncle Dave had passed away,” she said. “So, that was difficult to try to get him to understand that that’s not what happened. He was in the hospital, badly hurt, but still alive.”
Reed and Raucher have been able to speak with Pritchard Jr. as he recovers from burn injuries. The family described the fire department as tight-knit. They said even though he was injured, the fire chief was thinking of others.
“Uncle Dave, being the great chief that he is, made sure that everybody else was taken care of before he was,” said Raucher. “He’s like, ‘No, I’m not going in that ambulance. You’re taking somebody else.’ He made sure that he got the calls out mutually for the ones that had to come in. And then he finally handed it over and he needed medical.”
The explosion destroyed the church. The New York State Police described the carnage as “catastrophic.” By the time the fire was out, only charred walls remained. Its roof was gone.
Pritchard, Pitts, Amicucci and Czajak are recovering at Upstate University Hospital. Austin is recovering at Wynn Hospital in Utica.
The state police said explosion is not criminal in nature but the investigation into it is ongoing.
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