4/4/2012 Rensselaer Mutual Aid Structure Fire by Greg Forgea.
At approximately 1915 hours on April 4th, the Rensselaer City Fire Department was transmitted for an Alarm of fire
on the 900 block of Broadway. First units on the air transmitted the second alarm and confirmed a working fire with
an exposure problem on the D (Delta) side. Soon after Clinton Heights, Defreestville and the East Greenbush fire
departments were enroute to the city to operate at the working fire. Clinton Heights responded to the scene with
two engines,Truck 8 and the Rescue 8 with Cars 1 and 2. Defreestville responded with two engines and First Response
9 as well as Chief officers. East Greenbush sent Truck 11 and an engine to the scene and an engine to the
Rensselaer North station to cover, Car 4 also operated at the fire scene.
The fire was well advanced upon arrival of the first due and an exterior attack was started on
the original fire building due to poor structural stability of the building. Crews went heavy
duty operating ladder pipes and ground monitors as well as multiple hand lines. The D exposure
was also well involved and crews made a hard push but were forced back due to deteriorating
conditions. Crews mounted a large exterior attack on both buildings flowing water out of all
three aerials on the scene. Extensive overhaul was conducted and the mutual aid companies
started to return to service at approximately 2300 hours.
We would like to thank Best Luther and Schodack Valley fire departments for providing station
coverage as crews operated in the city. East Greenbush operated with 29 members manning two engines
and the truck company for a total of four and a half hours. At the time of this write up the original
fire building has been taken down and the exposure will be torn down shortly.
The fire is being ruled suspicious by the City of Rensselaer fire investigation team and the Rensselaer City Police.
