iPad May Have Started Blaze that Damaged Menands, NY, Fire Station and Apparatus

Several fire apparatus and a firehouse were damaged by fire in the Village of Menands Sunday. 

Crews were alerted to a fire at the firehouse on Broadway around 5:30 p.m. and found of their fire apparatus engulfed in flames, according to News10.com.

Mayor Brian Marsh said one of the fire apparatus—Squad 6—was totaled and two others rigs were damaged. 

Marsh told the Times Union that it is believed an iPad in Squad 6's apparatus may have sparked the blaze.

Menands firefighters were able to get two other rigs out of the station, including driving one of the apparatus through a bay door that they were unable to open.

Multiple area fire departments responded to contain the fire and no injuries were reported.

The Menands Fire Department operates from a single station, with a pumper, rescue/pumper and a tower ladder, protecting three square miles in the Town of Colonie, according to the department's website. 

The fire department has talking with the nearby Schuyler Heights Fire District, which shut down earlier this month, to determine if they can use their station and apparatus to respond. The 70-year-old Schuyler Heights Fire Department closed amid ongoing dispute between the fire department and district.

Menands firefighters also received a pumper from the Shaker Road-Loudonville Fire Department to respond from the Menands Department of Public Works garage, allowing for a quicker response.

"Yesterday’s fire within our own firehouse marks one of the most difficult and heartbreaking days our Village has ever experienced," village officials released in a statement Monday. "A building that has long stood as a symbol of protection, service, and community was itself impacted by the very emergency our members dedicate their lives to fighting."

Marsh said several community groups use the fire station for gatherings. "You know, like community seniors programs are on the second floor of the fire hall; we’re going to have to relocate them."

“It’s amazing the response we received from all the members around the area, from Albany to Troy to Watervliet, that have been reaching out asking what we need in Menands, and it’s great to have such a community response," Marsh told the television station.