COHOES, NY - On November 3rd, the City of Cohoes Fire Department along with the Green Island Fire Department, Watervliet Fire Department and the Watervliet Arsenal Fire Department, responded to 43 McElwain Avenue for multiple calls for a reported structure fire. As the first due truck company from the City of Cohoes was making the turn out of central station, police unit 603 reported they had a working structure fire with possible entrapment inside of the building. As the truck company was coming down Broadway, they had a thick heavy black column of smoke visible. The first truck company arrived on scene and immediately notified the dispatcher that they had a Signal 30 with heavy fire showing in the front of the structure, and police were able to confirm everyone was out of the structure. 

Firefighters from the truck company immediately deployed a one-and-three-quarter-inch hand line to the front of the building. Command on scene requested a recall of firefighters from the City of Watervliet, Cohoes and Green Island. Firefighters immediately went to work making an aggressive push and knocking down the heavy fire condition on the front porch and made entry to the structure where they discovered they had fire inside of the walls. Firefighters continued to work to knock down the heavy fire condition on the front porch and began to pull apart the walls on the first-floor. Firefighters on the second-floor had a heavy smoke condition coming from the walls and began to pull apart the wall in the front of the building. When firefighters used a thermal imaging camera and noticed a large amount of heat coming from the walls, crews deployed another hand line to the second-floor. Firefighters on the second-floor vented the front windows of the structure to allow for the trapped smoke and toxic gases to escape.

As firefighters were working in the hallway, they discovered that they had fire running the wall in the front portion of the structure near the main doorway. Firefighters began to pull the ceilings in that area and soak down the outer portion of the siding on the 'Bravo' side of the structure. After a short period of pulling apart the walls and hitting hotspots, firefighters were able to quickly bring the fire under control. As firefighters were working on the second-floor and first-floor of the structure, additional firefighters conducted overhaul on the porch and the side of the building. Firefighters utilized a hand line and cooled down one portion of the neighbor's house that had damaged siding from the heavy fire condition.

Police on scene began to conduct their investigation into the fire. One person on scene was evaluated by EMS. Firefighters on scene continued to conduct extensive overhaul to the badly damaged home until the late afternoon hours. No injuries were reported. The fire is under investigation at this time, and no cause has been released. Firefighters went back into service just after 6:00 P.M.