DELMAR – Local fire departments responded to a house fire at 15 Hunter Road on Wednesday, April 12. About an hour later, firefighters had the fire out and were cleaning up.
At 1:56 p.m. crews were dispatched to a structure fire at the single-family residence. During the daytime hours, all fire responses in the town trigger a mutual-aid response with Delmar, Elsmere and Slingerland fire departments.
Once they arrived a few minutes later, chiefs on the scene requested a FAST team from Westmere fire district.
“FAST team is requested if we do any interior firefighting. They are there to rescue down firefighters if we need it,” Delmar Fire Chief Dan Ryan said.
FAST stands for Firefighter Assist Search Team and because all of the Bethlehem fire companies were fighting the fire, they requested the team from Westmere to back them up. Team members receive specialized training to extract firefighters from inside a burning structure and stand by when the fire is best battled from inside.
According to radio transmissions and confirmed by Ryan, there were two people home at the time, but escaped unharmed. The family dog was inside, but firefighters were able to rescue it and reunite it with the owner.
“Guys had a quick knock down and stop,” Ryan said. “The makeup of the structure helped in this case.”
According to Ryan, the lower level of the house and garage walls are concrete with siding attached, so fire could not spread up the walls. The fire was contained to the garage area and the room above it.
“The front of the garage was going pretty good when we got there and it went up the wall to the room above,” Ryan said.
The damage was contained to the contents of the garage and some damage to the room above. Ryan said the structure will need repair, but the occupants will be able to return in a fairly short period of time.
The Bethlehem Police Department Fire Cause and Origin Team was requested by Chief Craig Sleurs to assist with determining origin and cause.
According to Bethlehem police, the fire originated in the garage of the residence, and appears to be non-criminal and non-suspicious in nature.