July 20--RENSSELAER -- About half the residents of a retirement home on Fourth Avenue were taken to the city high school after a smoky blaze in the building.
A chaotic scene unfolded this afternoon on the front lawn outside Renwyck Place as emergency workers tended to the residents on the front lawn. Many residents left the building in wheelchairs and were being given oxygen because of breathing problems caused by the smoky conditions. It appears no one in the six-story complex was seriously injured.
A Renwyck employee at the scene said the fire began in a second-floor apartment and sent smoke billowing into the building's east wing.
About 100 to 200 residents of the east wing were evacuated. Officials said those living in the west wing remain in the building.
A Rensselaer city school bus and senior citizen buses ferried the residents to the high school, which is air-conditioned, according to John Mooney, school board president.
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