Firefighters made quick work of a bedroom fire at a home in Slingerlands. 

A call over the radio from Chief Marc Futia of the Elsmere Fire Department alerted dispatchers of a confirmed structure fire at 1498 New Scotland Rd in Slingerlands on Thursday, April 18, around 6:40 p.m.

Chief Craig Sleurs from the Slingerlands Fire Department says Futia was on his way to the Slingerlands Firehouse for a radio committee meeting.

“I was at the station and heard him call out on the scene requesting the fire department for a working structure fire,” Sleurs said. “He had smoke visible from the second floor Alpha side, the front of the structure.” 

Fire crews arrived on scene quickly, pulling two handlines and getting the fire knocked down in 5-10 minutes, Sleurs said.

He says the fire damage was mainly confined to the front bedroom, with some smoke and water damage in the rest of the house.

“The two female occupants were inside at the time of the fire,” Sleurs said. “One of them went back in to try and get stuff out.”

He says the occupants had originally shut the bedroom door, which, Sleurs says, most likely helped save the rest of the house.

He says one dog and three cats were inside the house and all made it out safe. Two cats were brought out by firefighters.

Firefighters discovered a fire hydrant that did not work on the corner of New Scotland Road and Bridge Street, but crews were able to find another hydrant on the other side of the house.

On scene were Slingerlands and Delmar fire departments, Elsmere Fire for FAST, Selkirk Fire for FAST and the air truck, North Bethlehem Fire for rehab, Delmar-Bethlehem EMS, Albany County Paramedics and Bethlehem Police.

The Bethlehem Police Department Fire Investigation Team investigated the fire and the cause appears to have been from smoking, Sleurs said. 

There were no injuries reported on scene. 

“The crews did a really great job at saving the house,” Sleurs said.