A three-alarm blaze hit the Tivoli Fire Department’s station late Friday night, causing heavy damage to the building as well as an ambulance and a pumper-tanker housed inside.
According to the Poughkeepsie Journal, the fire was reported at about 10 pm as a confirmed structure fire at the fire house. The call quickly went to a second alarm and within minutes, a third alarm was sounded summoning equipment and personnel from several surrounding communities.
There were no injuries reported the Journal said.
Tivoli Fire Chief Marc Hildenbrand told the Journal that in addition to the ambulance and the fire truck, fire gear may have been lost in the blaze, but a determination with the community’s insurance company would have to happen before any final decisions were made.
The cause of the fire, which initially came in as an alarm activation at the station, is under investigation, the Journal reported.
In a video by the Journal, Tivoli Mayor Joel Griffith said he was initially told it a truck may have caused the fire.
One of the first firefighters on the scene was able to safely get the department’s engine out of the station which was then used to help fight the fire.
The ceiling in the station collapsed and the front façade of the building was scorched, while it appears the rest of the station sustained at least heavy smoke damage.
“It could have been a lot worse,” Mayor Griffith told the newspaper. “It’s startling. It’s disturbing, but nobody got hurt.” He added that the response from the neighboring departments was “humbling and tremendous.”
The fire will be investigated by the Dutchess Fire Investigation Unit, County Executive Marc Molinaro said in a statement issued Saturday morning.
“As devastating as this fire is, no one was hurt,” Molinaro said in the statement. “Equipment can be replaced and structures rebuilt. …Tivoli will rebuild and Dutchess County will be there, shoulder to shoulder, with them.”
The volunteer department is celebrating 100 years of operation this year and a celebration is schedule for mid-August, according to the Journal.
