I worked in the Saratoga Springs store. The loss prevention guy told me when I heard an announcement that they were checking the sprinklers, it was code for following a shoplifter. I asked what they announced when checking the sprinklers. He said there weren't any. DOH!
My husband was a security manager for the one in Summerset Pa, Lakewood N.Y. and North Warren. He worked 65 hour weeks and what he was paid didn't average out to minimum wage. A few years after he quit...someone turned them in...he got a nice check.
hello fellow warrenite! i never got a chance to actually see that store but i knew many firefighters that were there i actually wish it was still around lol
They didn't reopen this one. There was a newly built one the next town over. They eventually demoed everything and the Shoprite that was in the same plaza built there.
Oh wow, I never heard about this fire... Our local Jamesway store in Saratoga Springs , NY burned down in a similar fashion on 4/22/1989. Almost exactly 1 year before this one on 4/29/1990!
True story. I remember in the cafeteria at North Main elementary a buddy of mine would bring in cartridges and explain how to get them to work. The plastic cases on the outside were melted but the circuit boards inside were still good so you had to open up a good game case you already had and put the new one inside.
I remember there being a wave of these burning during the late 80s/early 90s... I also remember there being an article in Time magazine about this company in 1990...
I thought I commented on this a while back but I can’t find it… My mom and I were here that day (parked near Plaza Optical) watching it during the day. I was 3 and a half.
@@patricknedz Do you remember the MONTGOMERY WARD store in Monroeville (today Jo-Ann Fabrics and other stores are in that building) which was near Monroeville Mall in the 70's?
I'm not surprised at the arson talk in the comments. It would be hard to believe that a building that size wouldn't have sprinklers; older shopping centers (that still exist) that I've been to have them although I'm not sure when that became code (and the code varied place to place). Three or four sprinkler heads will contain most fires, I hear. This was either lit up in multiple points across the store (particularly in the linens for starters, for the biggest fuel load) or, someone wrote that the sprinklers were turned off, and the arsonist made sure of it and then found a good starting point. 1990 wasn't a good time for department stores not named Wal-Mart; reading that some of them burned is not that surprising. 1990 was when Nichols Discount City went out of business; I was very young then but remember it here in eastern NC. They were mid-Atlantic based and expanded southward in the 70s.
I agree with all you said, Michael Johnson. It was too many discount department stores for them ALL to thrive successfully, and hence whyany went out of business in 80s, 90s and early 2000s.
@@trentpettit6336 Only guessing based on the history of when regional chains like Jamesway did their most growth, I'd say the early '70s. The building is rather nondescript and looks almost like a warehouse. I made my original post a year ago, and now I realize in a bad way my thoughts on sprinklers were incorrect: my eastern NC region just took a bad economic hit last Saturday morning 12/18/21 when the QVC distribution center burned down. Over a thousand people worked there, including my sister's fiancée who had just started working there, and worse, there was a fatality. It was a 1.2 million square foot building built in the late '90s. I guess if a fire has enough fuel, no amount of sprinklers can stop it.
I don't know if the building was sprinklered or not. A lot of smaller towns back then didn't have code requirements for sprinklers. I know Monroe didn't back in 1990. I think this fire and the bowl-o-rama fire made a lot of municipalites in Orange County re-think that, though.
Well, I remember that the entire county was at this fire in one fashion or another. Most of the responses were tankers to the scene. Was one of the biggest jobs Orange County ever had up to that point. Was it arson? Officially, I believe they ruled it accidental. You be the judge though. Jamesways were burning down everywhere. I just have to point out, that Orange County's fire dispatch during this Era was handled by the Sheriff's department, and I think they were still dispatching from the old county jail. Or the fire training center in New Hampton. can't quite remember where they were at at this point.
@michaelgormley251 dunno. I wasn't even in my teens yet. I was guessing. My cousin by marriage, was in charge of Communications as a Sheriff's deputy(Sgt at the time, forced retirement as a Lieutenant, long messy story)Unfortunately, he's no longer with us, so I couldn't ask where KEE-315 was working from in these days. Everyone was hanging out at Coldenham waiting for the call.
1:26 Note the fire crew isn't trying very hard by this point. Good for them; let the insurance company sort it out and keep all the first responders safe.
My fictional ad for this store: Don't miss the Mega-Hot deals at the Monroe Jamesway. We've got deals so hot that our store has burnt down so get in, grab a bargain* and get out before it's too late! Only at the Monroe Jamesway. All sales final, No returns accepted. *Excludes all Fire Fighting Equipment, Undamaged Jamesway Shopping Carts, Building Rubble and Shop-Rite Purchases.
Also when other James ways go up at about the same time. It's not coincidence. I remember painting the outside of the bowling alley. I was wondering where it went.
So basically everything changed where the ShopRite is. Because I was wondering where the bowling alley was. But this was late 80s. They caught rabbis running up from the Mill Street mill fire. I know the fireman over there. They basically got away with it. Hazzard let them get away with it also because I'm pretty sure he actin agency
also I think the area has it's fare share of ladder trucks. Could do with a couple more engines. around 9 minutes they finally discovered that this building has more than just one side. The entire rear of the place was forgotten about
Looks like the sprinkler system was fake, just like the security cameras....I watched Jamesway burn from the airplane park across the street while I laughed my was off!!!
Kevin Baker thanks for the reply, My wife and just moved back to the Capital district area after 23 yrs in VA bch, VA. I used to get alot of hot wheels from this chain of store's,got kinda excited thinking they were still around. Oh well guess it's back to Wally world and Target for my collecting.thanks again, still sad.
arson.. a guy put a styrofoam coffee cup wth a ciggarette nxt to the pool chlorine and wlkd out of the store if i blv the same thng hppnd to the saratoga jamesway
I worked in the Saratoga Springs store. The loss prevention guy told me when I heard an announcement that they were checking the sprinklers, it was code for following a shoplifter. I asked what they announced when checking the sprinklers. He said there weren't any. DOH!
I worked in that store for a while in the early 70s. Me and the other stockboy used to alternate naps in the warehouse stacks.
My husband was a security manager for the one in Summerset Pa, Lakewood N.Y. and North Warren. He worked 65 hour weeks and what he was paid didn't average out to minimum wage. A few years after he quit...someone turned them in...he got a nice check.
That's allot of driving to get to the one store in Summerset, crazy.
@TheMrSnyder wow that's stingy
I never visited the one in Somerset. I was a kid when Jamesway was in business, but remember going to the one in Ebensburg, Pa a lot.
Wow! Another Jamesway on fire. The one in my hometown (Warren, PA) suffered the same fate and never reopened.
MidnightMoon they rebuilt after the fire. it was a flood a couple of years later that forced them to close.
hello fellow warrenite! i never got a chance to actually see that store but i knew many firefighters that were there i actually wish it was still around lol
The same thing happened in south Carolina, never reopened
They didn't reopen this one. There was a newly built one the next town over. They eventually demoed everything and the Shoprite that was in the same plaza built there.
I remember that
No way was this accidental. Jamesway was struggling already by that time. Holy insurance fraud Batman.
🤭🤣💀
Oh wow, I never heard about this fire... Our local Jamesway store in Saratoga Springs , NY burned down in a similar fashion on 4/22/1989. Almost exactly 1 year before this one on 4/29/1990!
Our store in south Carolina went up in flames July 89
The only thing that was still kept up was the sign unlike this one which fell down
3 stores? Sounds like insurance fraud, and no one investigated them?
It was a conspiracy!!
These deals are HOT!
roastedsanta Unless someone sold their mixtape =:O
Lol
The merchandise was hosed. There was a lot of smoking deals. A very expensive way to tint the windows.
My Hometown..In the summer of 1988 I bought WhiteSnakes Self Titled Album on Vinyl at This Store!! Still have it!! 😁
Sick
Very kool I still have 2 John Cougar albums with the Hills Department Store sticker shrinkwrap still on them.
Thanks for posting this. I remember this fire!
The Jamesway in my hometown(Saratoga Springs NY) burned down around the same time as this one. Coincidence? You tell me.
Bryan Fernet it happened in Somerset, PA as well
Heavy Duty Mark same outfit I believe that had Ames. James way went out decades ago
17 locations in 4 months?
Bryan Fernet they found out it was the same guy
@Silver Shamrock a child burned down 17 Jamesways in 4 months??
We, the neighborhood kids, retrieved SO many Nintendo games from the wreckage. It was great.
NES cartridges survived that fire?
They were in tact?!
True story. I remember in the cafeteria at North Main elementary a buddy of mine would bring in cartridges and explain how to get them to work. The plastic cases on the outside were melted but the circuit boards inside were still good so you had to open up a good game case you already had and put the new one inside.
Monroe!!!!
No water damage?
I was at the Nintendo World Championships at the Javitz Center this day. Came home and heard "jamesway burned down"
I remember there being a wave of these burning during the late 80s/early 90s... I also remember there being an article in Time magazine about this company in 1990...
Wow! I can't believe how fast that building just basically disintegrated.
In some old 90s newspaper, it says like 7 Jamesways burnt in like a 2 year period. Coincidence? I think not...
I was born on 5.22.90
3 weeks after this fire
Interesting video but it is sad what happened to that store. Thanks for uploading.
It's funny how the struggling brand had so many stores burn to the ground. That's some 90s insurance fraud.
This is a good video to show to those who don't think sprinklers are really necessary, or need to be maintained.
Monroe, New York, April 29, 1990.
If they only had sprinklers this would have been prevented
They did! They were in the off position
That fire chief Bronco is AWESOME!!!!
Chevy Blazer
Stores like this were probably so nice to shop at. Not crowded, fair prices, easy parking, etc.
Great job at least the parking lot didn’t catch on fire
The store manager at my store (Dollar Tree) used to work at Jamesway. It’s actually where she met her ex.
R.I.P. to this Jamesway store.
I thought I commented on this a while back but I can’t find it… My mom and I were here that day (parked near Plaza Optical) watching it during the day. I was 3 and a half.
This is amazing thank you for posting
There used to be one in Monroeville, PA. Was a Hechinger there, too
I remember hechinger
I’m not far from Monroeville
@@patricknedz Do you remember the MONTGOMERY WARD store in Monroeville (today Jo-Ann Fabrics and other stores are in that building) which was near Monroeville Mall in the 70's?
I used to shop at the one in Monticello ny all the time I learned how to drive my first car in the parking lot Cady El Dorado
nice!
I love the open Turnout Coats and the 3/4 Boots
I just drove by yesterday and the fire is still burning!
What?! It’s been like 100 years
@@vickyturner9662 nope only 32
I'm not surprised at the arson talk in the comments. It would be hard to believe that a building that size wouldn't have sprinklers; older shopping centers (that still exist) that I've been to have them although I'm not sure when that became code (and the code varied place to place). Three or four sprinkler heads will contain most fires, I hear. This was either lit up in multiple points across the store (particularly in the linens for starters, for the biggest fuel load) or, someone wrote that the sprinklers were turned off, and the arsonist made sure of it and then found a good starting point.
1990 wasn't a good time for department stores not named Wal-Mart; reading that some of them burned is not that surprising. 1990 was when Nichols Discount City went out of business; I was very young then but remember it here in eastern NC. They were mid-Atlantic based and expanded southward in the 70s.
I agree with all you said, Michael Johnson. It was too many discount department stores for them ALL to thrive successfully, and hence whyany went out of business in 80s, 90s and early 2000s.
When would you estimate this Jamesway center was built?
@@trentpettit6336 Only guessing based on the history of when regional chains like Jamesway did their most growth, I'd say the early '70s. The building is rather nondescript and looks almost like a warehouse. I made my original post a year ago, and now I realize in a bad way my thoughts on sprinklers were incorrect: my eastern NC region just took a bad economic hit last Saturday morning 12/18/21 when the QVC distribution center burned down. Over a thousand people worked there, including my sister's fiancée who had just started working there, and worse, there was a fatality. It was a 1.2 million square foot building built in the late '90s. I guess if a fire has enough fuel, no amount of sprinklers can stop it.
@@michaeljohnson7493 Sorry to hear that about the QVC fire!
I don't know if the building was sprinklered or not. A lot of smaller towns back then didn't have code requirements for sprinklers. I know Monroe didn't back in 1990. I think this fire and the bowl-o-rama fire made a lot of municipalites in Orange County re-think that, though.
And kids, this is why you shouldnt trust james and his ways
Lmao
So this started when the store was open and people were inside of it? How did it spread so fast if people were there? This fire is insane!
Well, I remember that the entire county was at this fire in one fashion or another. Most of the responses were tankers to the scene. Was one of the biggest jobs Orange County ever had up to that point. Was it arson? Officially, I believe they ruled it accidental. You be the judge though. Jamesways were burning down everywhere. I just have to point out, that Orange County's fire dispatch during this Era was handled by the Sheriff's department, and I think they were still dispatching from the old county jail. Or the fire training center in New Hampton. can't quite remember where they were at at this point.
The fire training center in New Hampton was not built yet
@michaelgormley251 dunno. I wasn't even in my teens yet. I was guessing. My cousin by marriage, was in charge of Communications as a Sheriff's deputy(Sgt at the time, forced retirement as a Lieutenant, long messy story)Unfortunately, he's no longer with us, so I couldn't ask where KEE-315 was working from in these days. Everyone was hanging out at Coldenham waiting for the call.
This is just like That Toys R Us That Burned Down!
3 sticks and a snorkel in one shot, nice!
I went to the one in Mohegan lake NY as a kid
I was born in 1991. I think this fire heralded my birth.
Sad..That was a nice store
+Robert McCue was there fightng it...was on salisbury mills fd.. wht a nght holy shit
1:26 Note the fire crew isn't trying very hard by this point. Good for them; let the insurance company sort it out and keep all the first responders safe.
Funny how now Shoprite resides here now
i must have dumped $100's in quarters at the video games there in my youth
Mlm
Douggie I remember that fire it was a hot one
@@edwardhauser6756 Where you at?
My fictional ad for this store:
Don't miss the Mega-Hot deals at the Monroe Jamesway. We've got deals so hot that our store has burnt down so get in, grab a bargain* and get out before it's too late! Only at the Monroe Jamesway.
All sales final, No returns accepted.
*Excludes all Fire Fighting Equipment, Undamaged Jamesway Shopping Carts, Building Rubble and Shop-Rite Purchases.
I've never seen such a weak building. Plus a non functioning sprinkler system and no fire walls between the adjacent store.
no sprinkler system at all
So many of these stores burned down. Did they do this on purpose??
Someone must have, a newspaper from the 90s said there was 7 of them burnt in a 2 year period. But no one investigated it...
Interesting, the Pompton Lakes store flooded several times…
I don’t remember any of these in Altoona Pennsylvania, I think the one there was Riverside Grocery if I’m not mistaken
Amazing pumping that much water and no hydrants.Dam
Yeah I heard the fire marshal say discounts were so hot that day... Place just literally caught fire.
At 10:34 - Where is his helmet?
And its still burning
That was set. Had to be accelerant. Sprinklers wouldn't have mattered. Sort of like the Mill Street fire in Cornwall.
Big Andre' I was at this fire it was a hell of a night
Also when other James ways go up at about the same time. It's not coincidence. I remember painting the outside of the bowling alley. I was wondering where it went.
Big Andre' they knocked it down it’s the M&T bank now
So basically everything changed where the ShopRite is. Because I was wondering where the bowling alley was. But this was late 80s. They caught rabbis running up from the Mill Street mill fire. I know the fireman over there. They basically got away with it. Hazzard let them get away with it also because I'm pretty sure he actin agency
In other words Hazard works for the rabbis. In agency
the fire burn down a james way store in 1990
Monroe, NY
Why do so many jamesway stores go on fire????😯
I think it was insurance fraud
Vehicle placement was nuts. My god they were over 100ft away from the collapse zone. Cant put water on a fire if ur ladder cant get close enough
also I think the area has it's fare share of ladder trucks. Could do with a couple more engines. around 9 minutes they finally discovered that this building has more than just one side. The entire rear of the place was forgotten about
SO SAD JAMESWAY IS GOOD WHO SET IT ON FIRE
It was an accident; industrial cleaning supplies caught on fire. Unfortunately, they had no sprinkler system.
@@supersaver87 they did have a sprinkler system but it was just one big clusterfuck
Which one was this located in?
Monroe NY
What's this no pierce fire apparatus?????!!!
Poor filming. moving the camera so much you missed the collapse.
Go back to your 17 subscribers.
Plus it was 1990 the camera equipment at the time was poor
I wonder what started that fire
As wimpee as that building was I would have hated to work in it, I would worry about the roof caving in on the store.
It was probably a bowstring truss roof. Once one component of that fails, it all goes.
@@emt5330Jesus Fucking H Christ, just like Waldbaums, and Hackensack Ford. Don't trust the truss!
What year had this store first been opened?
No need to heat up my pizza I'm just running into James way real quick
what location was this
Monroe, NY
Looks like the sprinkler system was fake, just like the security cameras....I watched Jamesway burn from the airplane park across the street while I laughed my was off!!!
Cool story bro
where was this jamesway located
At James way we care about you 😅😅😅
Is this the Saratoiga Springs, NY store
Monroe,NY store.
I thought Jamesway department store's all closed down years ago.
Michael Rzeszuto They shut down in 1995... but this one went down five years earlier.
Kevin Baker thanks for the reply, My wife and just moved back to the Capital district area after 23 yrs in VA bch, VA. I used to get alot of hot wheels from this chain of store's,got kinda excited thinking they were still around. Oh well guess it's back to Wally world and Target for my collecting.thanks again, still sad.
Michael Rzeszuto You're welcome. Yes, it is sad - Zayre, Hills, Jamesway, Ames... all gone forever.
@@kevinbaker4241 😢
Yes. They did close.
Did you not see all the mustaches!? Hahaha :)
....This video wasn't filmed yesterday.
week long fire was it??
Looks like a bomb had gone off,fire leveled the place.
Very poor construction?!
what is this location now
Monroe,NY
I believe Shoprite. They used to be at the other end of the plaza (visible in the video at points) then moved over to the rebuilt Jamesway space.
is this in chester New york?
Just down 17M from Chester. It is Monroe.
Where was this Jamesway?
Monroe, NY
this was 1989 not 1990
Wrong! 4/29/90
Even though there is a newspaper article from 1989? How did they know a year earlier?
Elissa Jones I believe the store in Saratoga burnt down in 1989!
Sign fell
Never mind, Nope!
Anybody remember the cause?
arson.. a guy put a styrofoam coffee cup wth a ciggarette nxt to the pool chlorine and wlkd out of the store if i blv the same thng hppnd to the saratoga jamesway
Stuart Menocker people are just idiots
Three kids dumped a lit match to the pool chemicals.
mst3kanita These are all urban legends. They said it was a disgruntled ex employee from the night shift. He ended up in a mental institution.
its beacause of eletric stuff caught on fire it was a accident
What was the cause of it?
Most likely electrical failure
Monroe n.y store
Flamesway!
The US fire fighter not looks so fat same these days!
Umm faje
I call events like this of stores struggling to hold on, Jewish lightning!
do you really
Where was this at.
Monroe, NY