According to Rotterdam Fire Chief Scott Sloan, a burning candle was likely the cause of a fire that did extensive structural damage to an apartment building at 1733 Patton Drive in Rotterdam on Monday, Dec. 3. The fire began at approximately 5:30 p.m. and could be seen coming through the windows when firefighters arrived on the scene shortly thereafter.
A downstairs tenant smelled smoke and got out safely, said Sloan.
The owner of the building, Paul LaPlant, was glad the damage wasn’t worse.
The fire department was there very fast considering the bad weather conditions. They were able to mostly contain the fire to the first floor, said LaPlant. `The outcome could have been much worse.`
LaPlant is the landlord of the building that is made up of four apartments. None of the tenants were injured. Firefighters did have to assist in the rescue of a family dog trapped on the second floor. That rescue was successful, despite the dog’s unwillingness to come out from under a bed in one of the upstairs apartments.
`There were no injuries to any firefighters, rescue workers, tenants or dogs,` said Sloan. `The windy conditions made the fire spread quickly, and it made it extremely cold for us, but we put out the fire fairly quickly.` “