A woman has died after a fire broke out inside a home on Old River Road in Niskayuna Friday afternoon, with firefighters pulling her from the structure and rushing her to a hospital, where she later succumbed to her injuries. The blaze drew crews from four departments and briefly shut down a stretch of the roadway as emergency vehicles swarmed the scene.
According to The Daily Gazette, Niskayuna Fire District 2 personnel responded to a report of a possible fire at 1440 River Road at around 4:20 p.m. on Friday. Firefighters found the woman unresponsive inside the home, removed her, and administered CPR before she was taken to a hospital by a Fire District 1 ambulance, where she died from her injuries. Officials had not immediately released her name, the paper reported.
Separately, WRGB reported that the first arriving chief officer observed smoke coming from the structure and declared a working structure fire shortly after crews arrived. Fire crews encountered the civilian victim inside and removed her, and emergency medical personnel rendered care at the scene before she was transported to a local hospital, where she later died.
Fire Contained Before It Could Spread
Firefighters from four departments were able to contain and extinguish the fire, preventing further structural damage, the same Daily Gazette report noted. On-scene crews extinguished the blaze quickly, according to WRGB's account, and no firefighters were injured in the incident.
Old River Road was temporarily closed between Rosendale Road and Buhrmaster Road while crews worked the scene, per the Gazette's reporting. A separate account from News10 described one person being pulled from the house and taken to Ellis Hospital, with that outlet also reporting that one pet is believed to have perished in the fire.
Cause Still Under Investigation
The cause of the fire remains under investigation, with Schenectady County fire investigators and the New York State Office of Fire Prevention and Control both looking into how the blaze started, according to WRGB. Fire officials said the fire does not appear to be suspicious.
The Niskayuna Fire District thanked several agencies that responded to assist, including the Verdoy Volunteer Fire Department, the Niskayuna Police Department, Niskayuna Fire District No. 1, the Stanford Heights Fire Department, the Schenectady County Fire Coordinator's Office, and the New York State Office of Fire Prevention and Control, per WRGB's report.
Fatal house fires remain a persistent danger nationwide. Federal data from the U.S. Fire Administration shows that in 2023, the national average for residential structure fire casualties was 5.8 deaths and 19.7 injuries per 1,000 fires. No further details about the Niskayuna victim or the extent of damage to the home have been released.
