TROY, NY - On November 12th at 7:47 P.M., the City of Troy’s Fire Department was dispatched for a reported structure fire at 1611 Tibbits Avenue. The caller reported an electrical issue inside of the building. Engines 2, 6 and 4, the rescue squad, Trucks 1 and 2, and the battalion chief responded to the scene. As Engine 2 was pulling onto Tibbitts Avenue, the officer on Engine 2 reported they had a smoke condition in the street from the apartment building and to transmit the Signal 30 for a working structure fire and they were going to be evacuating the building. Engine 2 immediately connected to the nearby fire hydrant, establishing a water supply, and the truck company laid in from the fire hydrant on Burdett Avenue.

The battalion chief arrived on scene and notified the dispatcher that they had a two-story, wood-frame, multi-occupancy structure with a significant smoke condition from the front of the structure and the roof. Crews were deploying a one-and-three-quarter-inch hand line through the front door while crews inside the structure began to order individuals that were still inside of the home out of the building. With conditions changing rapidly and heavy smoke pushing from the roof, command transmitted the second-alarm, bringing the city of Watervliet’s Fire Department and the Watervliet Arsenals Fire Department to the scene. Truck 2’s crew went to the roof and began to vent to make sure that there was no fire traveling throughout the cockloft. Firefighters on the second-floor began to vent the structure and pull the ceilings, as they had fire traveling above their heads.

Firefighters immediately began to cut holes in the walls to attempt to stop the fire spread, as they had fire traveling throughout the walls also. As firefighters discovered where the fire was traveling up the walls, they quickly utilized a hand line and knocked down the fire condition inside the building. Additional resources from the mutual aid companies began to arrive on scene and made their way inside to assist the crews working on the first and second floors. Within 25 minutes, firefighters had the fire under control. Command requested National Grid and Code Enforcement to the scene. Command also requested the police department to the scene for traffic control. Firefighters on the roof discovered additional hidden fire that had made its way to the roof area and began to pull apart multiple locations to gain access to the fire.

Firefighters continued to conduct overhaul and to hit hotspots for an extended period of time. Code enforcement arrived on scene and deemed the property non-inhabitable, and RPI was contacted for the students inside of the apartment building that lost their housing due to the fire. Command notified the water department for the fire hydrant in front of the building, and fire investigators arrived on scene to conduct their investigation into what caused the fire. No injuries were reported. Firefighters went back into service about an hour-and-a-half later.