By: Kathleen Moore
Source: Times Union, Albany, N.Y.
Jul. 6—HALFMOON — A fire ripped through an apartment building midday Monday, forcing at least two people to jump from their window and firefighters to successfully rescue a teenager who couldn't get out.
It began around 1 p.m. on the Fourth of July at 207 Mohawk Terrace off Crescent Vischer Ferry Road.
"We were getting back from Lake George. There was smoke but no fire I could see. My girlfriend called 911. Fifteen minutes later, the whole place was in flames. It was that fast," said resident Pierce Petillo Tuesday.
In the moments before the scope of the fire was clear, Julia Voss ventured inside to get her cat. By the time she retreated back outside, the fire was spreading fast and her upstairs neighbors were at their bedroom window, saying the smoke was too heavy for them to leave by the front door.
"We were yelling, 'Push your screens out,'" Voss said.
Her neighbors, a mom and a school-aged child, got through the window, the mom cutting her arm in the process, and both of them jumped.
"Me and another man, I don't even know his name, we just grabbed them," she said, gesturing to the window about 15 feet off the ground.
Firefighters also helped at least one other person escape from a balcony, residents said. After everyone evacuated, firefighters learned that a 13-year-old was unaccounted for, which led to a massive search inside amid heavy smoke, witnesses said. They brought the teenager out alive. In total, there were more than 25 tenants, including five children, according to the Red Cross.
It took hours for multiple fire departments to put out the blaze, which started as the Clifton Park Fourth of July parade was ending. West Crescent Fire Department was at the parade but hurried to the call, and then sent out two additional alarms for mutual aid with entrapment, bringing in fire departments from two counties.
Officials at West Crescent couldn't be immediately reached Tuesday to discuss the blaze or its possible cause.
After the fire was out, residents were allowed in briefly to recover wallets and other essentials. The Red Cross responded and offered financial assistance for necessities, including the cost of a hotel room for the night. Overnight, firefighters had to repeatedly put out flames when the building reignited.
The building was a total loss and will be demolished, the tenants were told.
On Tuesday morning, they came back to gather whatever survived the fire, smoke and water.
"It was ankle-deep water last night," said Adrian Marin, Jr., who had at first hoped his apartment would not be damaged since the fire didn't spread to it.
"It was definitely more of a shock, coming through, seeing how everything was decimated," he said.
Voss was focused on the positives, grimly bagging up clothes that were untouched, folded safely in dresser drawers. The big-screen TV still worked. A box of snacks had somehow survived.
Petillo, who has renter's insurance, had attached a utility trailer to his car and was hauling loads of salvaged belongings to a nearby storage unit. Among the good news: his expensive paintball equipment, all stored in safety cases, were fine. A tent and his motorcycle helmet seemed untouched too.
"We're trying to beat the storm, just get it all out," he said in a steady drizzle Tuesday morning. "I'm just trying to salvage anything I have left."
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