N.Y. Resident Credited With Helping Contain Blaze

ALBANY -- A fire at a 22-unit Madison Avenue apartment building displaced about a dozen people Monday night, but fire officials are crediting a smart move by one tenant that helped contain the flames.

The blaze was reported around 8:30 p.m. in a third-floor bedroom of 762 Madison Ave., just west of Quail Street, in Pine Hills, Fire Chief Robert Forezzi said Tuesday. On the way out of the burning apartment, a tenant in Apt. 3C -- later identified as Sheila McCaffrey -- shut the bedroom door, which ultimately allowed firefighters to keep the flames from spreading, Forezzi said.

McCaffrey, 25, said she was in her room on the other side of the apartment -- which is at the rear of the building near Yates Street -- when she smelled smoke and headed toward the kitchen to see whether any of the appliances were on.

She said she soon realized the smell was actually coming from behind the closed door of her roommate's bedroom.

"I opened the door, there was a ton of a smoke, and to the left toward the closet there was either a light or flames," said McCaffrey, who works at Albany College of Pharmacy. "I just closed the door, called 911 and left the apartment."

McCaffrey's instinct proved significant, Forezzi said.

"It could have been a lot worse," the chief said. "By shutting that door, she kept it from getting out into the hallway and getting out into the rest of the apartment."

Forezzi said the cause of the fire is believed to have been electrical and does not appear to be suspicious.

Other apartments sustained smoke and water damage, but Forezzi said many of those displaced by the fire were expected to return to their apartments Tuesday.

McCaffrey, who said she has a place to stay, said her landlord told her it could be months before her apartment is ready to be occupied again.

Copyright 2012 - Times Union, Albany, N.Y.

McClatchy-Tribune News Service