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2nd Alarm House Fire On Dunsbach Road In West Crescent Fire District

This article is a direct street report from our correspondent and has not been edited by the 1st Responder newsroom.

On January 5, 2025, at 6:30 PM, the West Crescent Fire Department, Boght Fire Company for the rapid intervention team, and Clifton Park Emergency Medical Services was dispatched to 132 Dunsbach Road for a reported structure fire. The caller was an individual driving by and stated the house was on fire.

Car 69-9 from the West Crescent Fire Department arrived on scene and immediately radio the dispatcher that he had a working structure fire with heavy fire in the garage and breezeway area extending into the house and requested the second alarm immediately.


Command requested national grid immediately to the scene as he had a gas meter that had melted off of the structure and is actively burning. The Clifton Park Fire Department, Halfmoon-Waterford Fire Department, and Visher Ferry Fire Department was dispatched to the scene. The first engine on scene took the driveway and firefighters immediately deployed an inch and three-quarter hand line to the garage and the breezeway and the bravo side of the structure. Command notified the incoming fire chief that he had heavy fire spreading up the side of the house into the second floor. The pump operator on scene immediately hit the house with a master stream from the deck gun knocking down a significant portion of the fire on the exterior portion of the house.


Firefighters on scene hand laid the large diameter hose up to the roadway for the next incoming engine to establish a water supply. Firefighters on the next incoming engine laid their large diameter hose down the roadway over 600 feet to the scene. As firefighters continued to work on scene heavy fire extended into the second-floor area and began to push out the front windows of the structure and out of the delta side of the structure. Firefighters coming in from the opposite direction located a closer hydrant and established the water supply. Firefighters utilized a hand line from the exterior portion of the structure and began to knock down a significant portion of the fire from the exterior. As they were doing sell firefighters deployed an ancient three-quarter hand line in to the front door of the structure and began to conduct an aggressive interior attack.


Firefighters on the bravo side of the structure utilize the hand line to knock down the significant fire pushing from the garage roof area and the breezeway. Firefighters utilized a rotary saw to cut open the garage doors. Firefighters were able to quickly knock down the heavy fire in the garage area and in the breezeway. Firefighter still had an active fire from the gas meter and a firefighter on scene utilized a halligan bar and shut off the gas at the bottom of the pipe to stop the gas fed fire. As this was going on the engine operator on scene requested the hydrants to be charged as they were running low on water. Firefighters inside of the structure conducting an aggressive interior attack were able to knock down all of the heavy fire inside of the structure and additional firefighters began to make their way inside to pull apart the ceiling to check the roof of the structure to make sure that there was no hidden fire.


Firefighters on scene began to establish scene lighting and the Jonesville Fire Department was brought to the scene with the rehab unit for firefighters that were working on scene. With the extremely cold temperatures the water and foam firefighters were utilizing to battle the fire quickly began to freeze. Command requested national grid to the scene with a gas crew as they were going to have to dig up the main out at the roadway and shut it off. Firefighters continue to conduct extensive overhaul of the badly damaged home and to search for the family’s pets inside. Firefighters on scene came out of the house and exchanged their air bottles and a new crew made their way inside of the structure to continue to conduct extensive overhaul of the badly damaged house. Fire investigators arrived on scene and began to conduct their investigation into the cause of the fire.


Firefighters remained on scene for a significant portion of the evening. Fire Investigator’s worked until the early hours of the morning conducting their investigation. National grid shut down the power and gas to the home. The building department and code enforcement was brought into the scene to check into the structural stability of the building. No injuries were reported. Unfortunately, the family's pets perished in the fire. Firefighters went back into service in the late evening hours.


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JEFFREY BELSCHWINDERSenior Correspondent

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