Fire damages two-family home
No injuries reported, cause under investigation
MECHANICVILLE, N.Y. >> All five occupants of a two-family home escaped without injury during a late Monday night fire at the corner of North 4th Avenue and Chestnut Street in Mechanicville. Firefighters arrived to find flames shooting through the attic of the threestory house, located in a residential neighborhood a block above Broadway.
The fire was reported at 11:47 p.m. Monday and kept personnel from Mechanicville Fire Department and surrounding mutual aid companies on the scene until about 3:15 a.m. Tuesday. No firefighters were injured.
“It took about 15 to 20 minutes to bring it under control,” said Matthew Dunn, Mechanicville deputy chief. “The cause is still under investigation. We won’t know how it started until we get a report from the Saratoga County Cause and Origin Team.”
City officials say the house is owned by David and Kathleen Tinti, who occupied part of the home.
All five residents have been displaced. It’s unknown yet if any part of the house is habitable.
Fire damage was contained to the attic and second floor, but there was smoke and water damage on all three floors, Dunn said.
Firefighters cut a hole where a third-floor window was located to provide ventilation for gas and heat to escape.
Firefighters gained access to the roof with several tall ladders placed alongside the home. An aerial truck was also used to battle the blaze. It was the third structure fire in Mechanicville since Jan. 1. Two others occurred this winter on South Main Street and Saratoga Avenue. It was also the latest in a string of serious fires throughout Saratoga County in the past week, including one Sunday that claimed the life of Edward R. Wilusz, 63, of 307 Rugg Road, Northumberland, on Sunday. This fire’s cause has not been determined and is still under investigation.
On Saturday, South Glens Falls firefighters spent more than two hours battling a blaze at 26 Fairview St., which destroyed a late 19th century home there. A couple who lived there escaped without injury. The fire was believed to be electrical in nature, the same as one that ripped through an Adirondack Trust Company branch office last Tuesday, just off Route 9 in Wilton, during the height of Winter Storm Stella.
Elsewhere, late Friday, yet another fire caused extensive damage to the Northway Toyota dealership on Route 9 in Latham.
“They’re all different,” Dunn said. “Sometimes it happens like that where fires occur close together. People just have to be careful.”