SCHENECTADY — An elderly man was killed early Saturday when a fast-moving blaze ripped through a two-family home on Helderberg Avenue, forcing an upstairs family of three to narrowly escape.
The victim, whose name was not immediately released, lived alone on the first floor of the two-story wood frame home at 1082 Helderberg Ave. He was said to be in his mid-80s.
Firefighters believe the fire originated in the man's bedroom about 6:50 a.m. They were considering the possibility the blaze was started by a cigarette because the victim was believed to be a smoker.
The fire was not considered suspicious.
Firefighters arrived quickly but could not locate the missing man — their initial focus.
"We know that was a situation that was untenable for human life," said city Fire Chief Michael DellaRocco, standing on Helderberg Avenue, where devastated survivors of the blaze sat across from their charred home left in fiery ruins.
"There was a great deal of smoke on the first floor," the chief said. He said a man who lives upstairs with his wife and her son had a key for the first floor. The man tried to get in, but could only see smoke from the floor to the ceiling. DellaRocco said firefighters had a good idea where the victim was in the home, but could not verify the location.
"That room was very heavily involved in fire," DellaRocco said. "We had several crews inside the building attacking the fire and searching for the victim. As that operation was going on, fire conditions were deteriorating. We ordered everybody out of the building and began a defensive attack on the exterior and from the exterior into the building. As time went on and the fire was diminished, we went back in and located the fire victim."
The victim, pronounced dead at the scene, had despite his age not been someone in need of regular assistance, the chief said. He said the man had been planning to go to a used book sale on Saturday.
"There were no other circumstances preventing his escape except, of course, for the fire,' DellaRocco said.
An autopsy was expected at Ellis Hospital to determine how the victim died.
The upstairs family members heard smoke detectors go off, which "may very well have saved their lives," DellaRocco said.
The chief said the younger man who lived upstairs smelled smoke, looked out his bedroom window and saw a "wall of flame." He, his mother and her husband all escaped. But DellaRocco said the husband, at one point, went back upstairs to make sure they had all gotten out — and was unable to make it out the front stairway.
"He exited the back," DellaRocco said. "He's actually very fortunate he was able to get out."
The chief said firefighters heard an explosion at one point. He said the woman who lived upstairs had a home oxygen tank. And the family had a propane tank on a grill. Both of those could have exacerbated the fire, DellaRocco said.
The searing flames tore through the home, moving upstairs rapidly due to balloon frame construction, which left an easy path for the fire to quickly rise through the floors to the attic, the chief said.
Flames shot out windows and spewed thick black smoke onto the street with a visibility of less than two feet, DellaRocco said.
Some 36 firefighters extinguished the inferno by 8:10 a.m. The home still stood, but was gutted and expected to be demolished.
"I was only a minute away from here when the call came in," DellaRocco said. "I was also here quite early. The roof had already broken through and flame was visible."
He said he called in the state Office of Fire Prevention and Control and Schenectady Police for assistance.
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