Sidewinder Photography shared some images of firefighters responding to a fire in mid-November at an historic church in the city of Albany, New York.
At 10:33 p.m. on November 14, 2024, crews were alerted to a reported church fire at 74 2nd Avenue, the Elijah Missionary Baptist Church in the city’s south end. Firefighters encountered heavy smoke showing from the church and immediately requested additional resources to the scene.
Firefighters made entry to the structure and went to the second floor to search for the seat of the fire. A window was taken for ventilation purposes, causing the fire to intensify. Additional firefighters quickly began to toss ladders to the adjacent building and deploy multiple handlines and 2 ½-inch lines to the roof area for defensive operations, if they were needed. Large portions of the building began to come down.
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- Common Occupancy, Uncommon Response: Firefighting in Places of Worship, Part 1 | Part 2
- Bob Pressler: Church Fires
Firefighters working on the second floor notified command they had extremely heavy fire conditions on the second floor in the balcony area and that the fire has made its way into the structural members of the roof. As firefighters pushed across the balcony, they noticed the floor had burned through and it had become unsafe for them to proceed, and crews ultimately had to retreat.
As firefighters were setting up for master stream operations, they experienced a major collapse inside of the structure of the second-floor balcony into the first floor. Additionally, a significant portion of the roof had fallen to the ground nearby.
Added resources from the city of Troy Fire Department and Watervliet Arsenal Fire Department were brought into the city to cover calls. Firefighters continued to conduct exterior operations and master stream operations for an extended period of time until the early hours of the morning. No injuries were reported.
The fire investigation ultimately determined that a space heater caused the fire.
