02/18/2016 Signal 30 Structure Fire in Castleton.

2 Alarm Mutual Aid Fire Hits Castleton. By Greg Forgea.

At approximately 1:00pm on Thursday afternoon, the East Greenbush Fire Department was dispatched as part of a second alarm assignment for a working fire in the village of Castleton. EGFD Car 4 (A/C Forgea) immediately called enroute to the scene. Upon the arrival of Car 4, he found a heavily involved structure with the first arriving units stretching lines and protecting the exposures. Castleton command made a special request of T-11 to the scene to set up for possible master stream operation. Engine 7, under the command of Lt. Liuzzi, took position in a neighboring parking lot and began stretching lines to the rear of the fire building. The crew from Engine 7 placed a blitz fire as well as three attack lines into operation, which were used for the duration of the fire.

Engine 8 arrived and began a reverse lay from the scene to a creek located about 1,700 ft from the fire building, with extra hose from the City of Rensselaer finishing the lay. The crew of Engine 8 worked together with a tanker from Schodack Landing and secured a positive water source. Crews from Engine 9 and Truck 11 were used for fire suppression and overhaul. First arriving departments made a great stand on this fire, preventing it from spreading to neighboring houses.

East Greenbush operated on scene with Cars 3 and 4, Engines 7, 8, and 9, the truck company and Fire Police. East Greenbush was on scene for just over three hours before being released by Castleton command. Defreestville and Best Luther provided station coverage, while crews operated out of district. At the time of this article, the New York State Police have reported making an arrest in this case, however the investigation is ongoing.

Go Back