KINDERHOOK—Fire ripped through a home at 59 Hunter Drive in Kinderhook the morning of Wednesday, December 11.
Columbia County 911 dispatched the Niverville Task Force (Niverville, Valatie and Kinderhook firefighters) and the Valatie Rescue Squad at 3:02 a.m.
Niverville Fire Chief Wayne Huyck told newsman Lance Wheeler at the scene that the fire started in the garage and quickly spread to the home. Residents were alerted to the blaze by a smoke detector. Firefighters had to break through the ice on a nearby pond to get water.
Two people in the house were evacuated. The structure is described as a total loss. No one was injured. Mutual aid was summoned from Tri-Village, North Chatham, Stuyvesant and South Schodack. National Grid went to the scene and the Red Cross was contacted to assist three adults that lived in the home. The Kinderhook Town Building Inspector was called to the scene and the Kinderhook Highway Department was summoned with a sand truck.
The Columbia County Fire Coordinators Office, State Police and Columbia County Sheriff’s Office were all on the scene. Fire units were back in service at 7:38 a.m.
A rekindle of the blaze was reported December 12 at 6:40 a.m. The Niverville Task Force and VRS returned with mutual aid from tankers from Tri-Village, Stuyvesant and North Chatham. As of 9:15 a.m. firefighters were still on scene extinguishing hot spots.