Watervliet, NY - On May 13th at 10:38 P.M., the city of Watervliet‘s Fire Department along with mutual aid from the city of Cohoes, Green Island, the Watervliet Arsenal, and the city of Troy Fire Department were dispatched for a reported heavily involved structure fire at 401 7th Avenue. The dispatcher notified responding units that he was taking multiple calls on the fire.

The first arriving police unit on scene had heavy fire pushing from the front porch area of the building and in the rear of the home. As the first arriving engine was coming down the street, they had heavy fire visible in the night sky. The engine company stopped at the end of the street and laid in from the nearest hydrant to establish a water supply.

The commanding officer on scene declared the Signal 30 and requested the second-alarm. Firefighters immediately deployed multiple hand lines into the building and began to knock down the fire. As firefighters forced entry into the home they discovered that the fire from the porch had spread into the roof area above them. As crews began to pull the ceilings inside of the house, firefighters on the outside of the building put a ladder to the roof to conduct ventilation.

As a firefighter walked across the roof, his roof hook immediately pierced through the roof and a portion of it in front of him gave way. Command had the firefighter immediately get off the roof for safety reasons.

As additional firefighters arrived on scene, crews began to knock down all remaining visible fire. Crews conducted extensive overhaul on scene for one hour. No firefighters were injured while battling the fire and no one was home at the time of the incident. The fire is currently under investigation by the Watervliet Police Department.