A child has died and eight people, including three Syracuse police officers, were hospitalized after a fire at a home on Jamesville Avenue early Thursday. Firefighters and police responded to the 2 1/2-story house at about 1:45 a.m. A mother and another child remain in critical condition.
According to cnycentral.com, Syracuse Fire Chief Michael Monds said one injured officer suffered burns and smoke inhalation. The station reported that the mother and another child were critically injured; the conditions of other residents taken to the hospital ranged from critical to stable. By the time crews arrived at 624 Jamesville Ave., the house was reported fully engulfed. Syracuse.com reported that Monds described the fire spreading from the kitchen to the attic and rapidly through the second floor, with the stairwell obstructed.
Frantic Calls for Help as Flames Spread
Dispatch accounts reported by Syracuse.com included a caller saying two sons were in an upstairs bedroom and a first responder asking for multiple ambulances. The responder told dispatchers, “send everyone!” as they relayed reports of multiple victims and an officer who had been burned.
Officials have not announced what caused the fire, and the cause remains under investigation. Fire Chief Michael Monds described how the blaze spread, but officials have not said what initially sparked it.
An Earlier Syracuse Fire Offers a Separate Comparison
In July 2025, a fire at a home on Syracuse’s South Side injured two children and a baby after fireworks were discharged from a second-floor porch, according to syracuse.com. Five people escaped, three with burn injuries, and 15 people received lodging assistance from the American Red Cross.
There is no indication that the July 2025 fire and Thursday’s Jamesville Avenue fire are connected.
What Syracuse records show about other fires
According to Syracuse.com’s report on a city auditor’s review, 29% of Syracuse’s 87 structure fires in 2024 were in empty buildings. That citywide figure does not establish anything about the Jamesville Avenue home. In a separate case, Firehouse reported that city officials attributed a fatal fire at 2407 S. State St. on June 25 to a failed lithium-ion e-bike battery in a first-floor bedroom. A 79-year-old man died, and no one else was hurt; officials have not announced a cause for the Jamesville Avenue fire.
Hoodline will continue to follow this story as officials release more information about the cause of the fire and the conditions of those hospitalized.
