Blaze rips State Street apartments in Schenectady; more than 20 evacutated

Saturday, August 21, 2010

By Marcy Velte

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SCHENECTADY — Two city residents were hospitalized and more than 20 displaced by a fire that erupted in their apartment complex at 763 State St. Saturday night.

At least two were rescued from an upper floor apartment by firefighters using a bucket ladder. Others made it down the stairs, some with firefighter or neighbor assistance. The condition of the injured was not available late Saturday. They were taken to Ellis Hospital.

Chief Robert Farstad said windows were broken to rescue two, possibly three, residents from the building’s third story after flames were reported around 9:32 p.m. He said most people were able to get out using the building’s fire escapes and one resident in a wheelchair was helped out by a neighbor from the first floor.

Eighteen other adults and four children made it out of the building with no assistance and without sustaining injuries. The brick complex holds 19 apartments.

Farstad said the power was turned off in the building and they hoped Red Cross would be able to house the residents for the time being. He said the fire was contained quickly from the building’s third floor hallway. The blaze apparently started in a third-floor apartment, but no detailed information about the source was available.

Other fires

Two other fires, one in the Stockade and one on Van Voast Street in Hamilton Hill also occupied firefighters from early Saturday through the afternoon.

Saturday at approximately 3:40 p.m. neighbors of 107 Front St. in the stockade neighborhood called the fire department to alert them to black smoke coming out of the brick building.

Assistant Fire Chief Michael Della Rocco said when the fire department responded to the blaze they discovered that 107 Front Street was a brick building attached to 109 Front. Both homes have people living in them, but no one was home at the time of the fire.

“The smoke was even pushing through the brick. It was a fire under pressure enough to push it through the bricks,” he said. “The fire appears to have started in the rear area of the first floor. The actual fire was extinguished pretty quickly.”

There was fire damage to 107 Front St. and smoke damage to 109 Front Street.

Brett Lauran-Kennedy, who said he is the husband of the owner of 107 Front St., said the fire may have been started because of a high velocity fan he had been operating for three days while he was refinishing the downstairs floor. He said the fan might have overheated.

The fire department responded to another fire at 102 Van Voast St. at approximately 3 a.m. The home was vacant. The fire department provided no further details about the fire Saturday.