COEYMANS HOLLOW, NY - Firefighters saved a home connected to a large garage that was fully involved in fire on November 7th. The call came in at 11:15 P.M. for a fully-involved structure fire with reported entrapment at 182 Copeland Hill Road in Coeymans Hollow.

With the reports of the fire being fully involved, with flames and an orange glow visible in the night sky, responding Chief Bill Kapusta of Coeymans Hollow Fire immediately requested mutual aid fire companies to be dispatched to the scene. With the reports of the trapped individual, a second ambulance was also immediately requested.

“Arriving units found an oversized two-story, three-bay garage fully involved,” said Chief Kapusta. “The blazing garage was attached to a two-story house to which the fire was spreading.”

The garage was fully involved with a car inside, and the fire was beginning to spread to the house. The first arriving engine deployed four handlines to start fighting the fire.

One handline was used to extinguish the side of the house that was beginning to burn; the second was used inside the house to keep the fire back that was starting to spread; another was used on the garage, and another at the rear of the structure, according to Kapusta.

Upon the arrival of police and fire officials it was determined that the occupant was able to make it out of the structure on their own. The victim that was trapped was able to find their way through the smoke to get out of the house safely.

A tanker shuttle was established to shuttle water from a nearby pond to feed the engines at the scene of the fire. While extinguishing the fire, magnesium from the vehicle in the garage began reacting to the water, creating bright white light emitting from the garage. Overhead power lines also posed a concern due to the close proximity to the burning structure.

Crews had a quick knock down of the fire and were able to prevent further spread to the house.

'Thank you; you saved our house,’ "Those were the words spoken to me while being hugged this morning,” said Chief Kapusta following the fire. “The homeowners wanted everyone to know what an amazing job you all did last night saving their house after the oversized three-bay attached garage caught fire.”

On the scene was Coeymans Hollow, Selkirk, Ravena, Coeymans, New Baltimore, Onesquethaw and Westerlo Fire Departments with Ravena Rescue, Albany County Sheriff’s Ambulance, Albany County Paramedics, Albany County Sheriffs and Coeymans Police with the guidance and assistance from Albany County dispatchers, all of which Chief Kapusta would like to thank for their efforts in what could have been a different outcome.

There were no reported injuries on the scene, and the cause of the fire is under investigation.

“From the initial 911 call of a trapped victim, to the fire that was quickly spreading into the house, this call could have been a lot worse,” Kapusta said.