GLENMONT, NY - Selkirk and Elsmere firefighters saved a home from a garage fire in Glenmont on a high call volume weekend. 

Fire crews were called to 37 Milltowne Rd. in Glenmont, in the Milltowne Plaza neighborhood, for reports of a fire in an attached garage around 10:00 A.M. on Sunday, March 24th. 

Police officers arrived on scene and confirmed a fire in the garage and stated that everyone had safely evacuated the home. 

“The garage was fully-involved, the window on the garage was blown out and there were flames coming out of the structure on the 'B' side of the garage,” said Chief Tom Neri of the Selkirk Fire Department. “Everybody was out of the house at the time.” 

He says two individuals live in the home and there were no known pets inside. 

“The Bethlehem Police Department Fire Investigation Team did the investigation on it,” Neri said. “They believe the cause is from the snowblower that was used just prior to the fire.” 

There was also a hybrid car inside the garage at the time of fire, but was not ruled as the cause. The car was, however, towed by Robert’s Towing as a precaution in the event the lithium-ion battery were to re-ignite inside the garage. 

Neri said the flames were knocked down in less than 15 minutes. The fire damage was confined to the garage with only smoke damage inside the home, he said. 

“The fire code sheetrock in the garage did an amazing job to contain the fire for us,” Neri said. “We knocked down the fire and another interior crew was inside checking for extension at the same time.” 

The residents relocated to a family member's home while fire restoration work can be done at their home. 

The fire came the same weekend as a rain, sleet and snow event moved through the area, giving close to 30 fire calls for Selkirk firefighters that weekend, Neri said. 

There were no injuries reported on the scene. 

Selkirk and Elsmere fire departments were on scene, along with crews from the Town of Bethlehem FAST Team, Bethlehem Police, Delmar-Bethlehem EMS, Albany County Sheriff’s Ambulance and Albany County Paramedics.