CLINTON HEIGHTS, NY - On April 14, 2026, at 6:48 PM, the Rensselaer County Emergency Communication Center began receiving multiple calls reporting a townhouse on fire at 63 Plaza Avenue in the Clinton Heights Fire District. As the incident was being dispatched, the center was handling numerous additional calls as a violent thunderstorm moved through the area, causing multiple downed power lines, fallen trees, and other emergencies throughout the county.

The Clinton Heights Fire Department’s chief responded en route to the scene and requested the Defreestville Fire Department for their rapid intervention crew. The chief arrived on scene with heavy fire and smoke showing from the front of the structure, with extension beginning to the second floor.

Truck 8 and Engine 8-5 arrived on scene and immediately went to work knocking down the heavy fire conditions at the front of the house. Firefighters quickly laddered the front of the building, forced entry, and began a primary search. Engine 8-5 established a water supply at the end of the street, and as this was being completed, Rescue 9 and Engine 9-6 arrived on scene with the rapid intervention crew.

Firefighters continued working to extinguish fire that had extended into the second-floor area, and crews began pulling ceilings inside the townhome. Command requested additional resources from the East Greenbush Fire Department, which was operating nearby on a fire alarm.

Firefighters began pulling apart the front of the structure, exposing additional areas of fire extension. Within six minutes of arrival, crews had the main body of fire knocked down. Interior crews confirmed that all occupants were out of the structure and that no one was home at the time.

Firefighters continued for an extended period conducting overhaul and extinguishing hotspots. Command requested the City of Rensselaer Fire Investigation Unit to the scene to determine the cause of the fire. During overhaul, firefighters were able to recover and preserve a family member’s American flag and safely remove it from the home before it was damaged.

Crews remained on scene for an extended period conducting interior and exterior overhaul operations before returning to service later in the evening. The fire remains under investigation, and the cause has not been released. No injuries have been reported.