DELMAR – What fire officials are categorizing as one of the largest fires in Bethlehem in 30 years has led Bethlehem police to arrest a 35-year-old Delmar man on Friday, June 2, for lying to the police about sparking the fire.
Juan W. Miranda, who lived in one of the burned buildings, allegedly was smoking a marijuana cigarette in the courtyard between 9 and 11 Equinox Court shortly before the fire started and discarded the end into the yard. The spark triggered a fast-moving fire from what witnesses say was a buildup of highly flammable and fuzzy poplar seeds and brush near the house.
Miranda allegedly tried to extinguish the fire with 5-gallon buckets of water, which delayed calling 911.
Later, in interviews with fire investigators, Miranda allegedly told a different story that led to the charge.
On Tuesday, May 30, at approximately 7:30 p.m. Slingerlands, Elsmere, Selkirk, North Bethlehem, McKownville, Westmere and Delmar Volunteer fire departments responded to a fire at the Deer Run Apartment complex just off Kenwood Avenue for the report of a structure fire.
What they found was an inferno.
“Never in my 30 years of experience that I have been involved or in command where we arrived at a scene with two, four-unit apartment buildings fully involved with fire coming through the roof,” Slingerlands Chief Craig Sleurs said.

The fire started at the four-unit apartment building at 9 Equinox Court and quickly spread to the building next door and the woods behind the buildings. By the time firefighters arrived, the fire moved through the ravine in the rear of the two buildings and advanced back up the slope towards Kenwood Avenue.
“The fire burned down in the ravine and then came up towards Kenwood,” Sleurs said. “It was really roaring there.”
Fire fighters now had three distinct fires, and water to feed the various high-pressure hoses quickly became a problem at the scene.
“It wasn’t that the town wasn’t giving us water (through the hydrants), it just wasn’t enough,” Sleurs said. “With three separate fires at once and three tower trucks, three pumper trucks, three two and one half inch Blitz fire lines and four additional hand lines, it was never going to be enough water through hydrants alone in this situation.”
There is a fire hydrant 25 feet from the first building, but it is fed with one 8-inch diameter pipe connected to a main on Kenwood Avenue between two other hydrants, according to Bethlehem DPW Superintendent George Kansas. It was functioning, but drawing water from all three hydrants at the same time limited water inflow to the middle connection. He estimated that the departments could draw between 1.500-3,000 gallons of water a minute from the line depending on the equipment pulling.
The bottom line is that they needed more water.
“We quickly realized we needed to set up an additional water supply with our tankers,” Sleurs said.
Fire departments set up a 3,000 gallon temporary water pond fed by additional tanker fire trucks from Onesquethaw and New Salem to help supply the three fire attacks.

It took two hours to bring the fires under control. Departments had to return the next morning to extinguish the rubble again after it reignited.
What was left was devastating to the eight families that lived in the two buildings. The Red Cross responded to the scene just after 9:30 p.m. to assist them. Slingerlands Volunteer Fire Department will be holding a fundraiser breakfast to benefit the families 8-12 noon on Sunday, June 18, at the firehouse on New Scotland Road, and the Albany County Burn Fund is providing assistance as well. Further information will be posted on the department’s website and facebook page.
The start of the fire was under investigation within an hour, but the speed with which it spread was evident immediately.
The property has an abundance of poplar trees that shed a fluffy-white fuzz that is actually made up of seeds shed from female trees this time of year. The seeds are rich in oil, which makes them burn faster.

According to one resident, piles of the substance were a foot deep in some spots where the wind pushed it.
“Last week there were piles of the stuff up to your knees,” Randy Nemeckay, a resident of 11 Equinox Court, said. “I wish the owners cleaned up the property better.”
The fire was able to spread on the ground and also through the trees, setting the second building and woods a blaze. Multiple residents also said that dry brush was not cleared from around the area after earlier storms and that added additional problems.
On Wednesday, the trees between and behind the buildings had gobs of white fuzz with burnt points hanging from between the leaves and the ground was again covered with seed fuzz in areas.

One thing the residents said clearly was how first responders handled the situation.
“I just don’t have enough kudos for the police and fire people who came,” said one woman who did not want to use her name. “They were amazing, and without them, this could have spread and we all could have been out.”
The Red Cross provided assistance to the eight families that were displaced the night of the fire.
“The Red Cross handed us cards for immediate needs. They were really good to us,” Nemeckay said. “You just never expect this to happen to you, until it does.”
He said that he lost everything in the fire as was evident by looking at the structures. The second floors on both buildings were completely gone and the contents of the interior strewn about the yard.

Other residents were looking for what was left.
“I did find a few things, but I am not sure I will ever get the smell out of them,” one person said while holding some shoes and pictures. “It is just hard right now to think.”
While no residents were injured at the blaze, several pets died in the fire, and one firefighter had to be treated for heat exhaustion. He had recovered the next day.
Miranda was charged with Making a False Written Statement, a misdemeanor and was given an appearance ticket for Bethlehem Town Court on Tuesday, June 20.