Firefighters responding to a structure fire in the Village of Chatham on Nov. 26 were slowed because the fire was located across from the middle school at dismissal time.
At approximately 2:30 p.m. the Chatham Fire Department was dispatched to a for a reported structure fire at 24 Woodbridge Ave. Mutual aid also was dispatched from Ghent, Red Rock and Valatie.
Smoke was visible for miles and responding units had to use extreme caution while approaching the scene. School buses coming and going and students being dismissed from Chatham Middle School, which was located across the street from the fire.
The fire started in a detached garage and quickly extended to a single family residence. The fire spread through the attic of the one-story wing of the house, but an aggressive interior attack stopped the fire from extended into the main portion of the house with two levels.
Additional mutual aid was required for extensive overhaul operations. Crews from Niverville and the balance of the departments in Columbia County Fourth Battalion responded to the scene.
Many of these crews responded to a building fire the day before in Kinderhook.
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