On April 16, 2025, at 4:56 AM, the city of Troy‘s Fire Department was dispatched to multiple calls to 303 2nd Street for a reported structure fire. Engine six, engine four, truck one, truck two, the rescue squad, and the battalion chief responded to the scene. The dispatcher notified the battalion chief that they have a working fire at that location. Engine three was on a medical call on the Eastside of the city with medic two which took engine two out of service due to cross staffing and medic four was transporting another person to the hospital on an EMS call which took them off the box alarm, and truck one which cross staffs medic one. This left no medic rigs available for any emergency calls in the city.

With engine six only one block away notified the dispatcher that they were arriving with a heavy fire condition pushing from the first floor of a two-story duplex structure with exposure issues and transmitted the signal thirty. With heavy fire pushing from the front of the structure, firefighters immediately deployed an inch and three-quarter hand line and the officer on the rig notified the dispatcher that they had heavy fire impinging on an exposure structure and transmitted the second alarm. The second alarm brought the City of Watervliet’s Fire Department and Watervliet Arsenal Fire Department to the scene. Firefighters had a boarded-up doorway on the opposite side of the fire building and firefighters were not sure at the time if the building was occupied. The officer on engine six notified the dispatcher that they just had a couple of explosions from the front of the structure and they were going to utilize a transition attack. As they were doing so a burn victim approached firefighters with burns to his hands after the person self-extricated from the second floor of the fire building.

Additional resources from the Troy Fire Department began to arrive on scene as firefighters made an aggressive push inside of the first floor of the structure and began to knock down the heavy fire condition. Truck two set up behind engine six and firefighters made their way to the roof and began to vent the structure. One of the firefighters tossed a ladder to the second floor window. Engine one moved up to central station as they were the only unit in the City of Troy available for calls. Firefighters conducted a primary search of the first floor and the second floor and notified command that there were no occupants remaining inside of the structure. Firefighters continued to hit hot spots inside of the first floor and began to check the second floor of the structure as they had fire that had traveled up the walls. Engine three cleared their medical call and were in route to the structure fire. Mutual aid arrived on scene and began to assist firefighters in knocking down hotspots and overhauling the building.

Firefighters on the roof notified command that they just had a light smoke condition pushing from the vent holes and the scuttle. Firefighters on the first floor were able to knock down the heavy fire condition within minutes due to their aggressive fire tactics. Firefighters forced their way into the adjacent apartment next to the main fire building as they were connected but was boarded up with plywood over the front door. Firefighters made their way inside and checked for extension and if there were any squatters in the building. Firefighters continue to work on scene for an extended period of time overhauling the destroyed first floor apartment and checking the knee wall on the second floor.

About twenty minutes into the second alarm, medic four cleared the hospital and arrived on scene to transport the burn victim to Albany Medical Center. No firefighters were injured battling the fire and the fire is under investigation at this time. The street was reopened later in the morning.