08/26/2026
On August 24th, 2026 at approximately 10:05pm, Pleasantdale Fire Department EMS Captain Z.Kepner along with multiple other community members heard multiple pops while at home and noticed flames from a neighboring backyard. Captain Kepner drove a street over and found a fully involved shed fire in a backyard on Belgrade Street with multiple trees involved and two houses in danger of the heat and flames. Multiple other community members came over to investigate and help protect surrounding properties. Captain Kepner notified Pleasantdale Fire Chief J.Broderick who was just up the road and left to obtain apparatus to fight the fire. At the same time, Rensselaer County Communications Center received calls reporting a fire at 307 Belgrade Street in Pleasantdale and at this time Box Alarm assignment 2610 was transmitted for the fire bringing Speigletown Fire Department, Mountain View Fire Departments FAST Team, and Hoosic Valley Rescue Squad to the scene. Chief Brodrick immediately transmitted the working fire in the backyard of the residence with multiple exposures.
Engine-Tanker 26-8 responded from the Pleasantdale FIre Department and arrived on scene of the fire. At this time, a handline was stretched into a neighbors yard to fight the fire and prevent any further spread. A second handline was pulled from the front bumper of 26-8 and brought to the opposite side of the shed to continue to fight the fire as more Pleasantdale Firefighters, including Pleasantdale Cars 2 and 3, arrived. Speigletown Fire Departments Engine-Ladder 35 was instructed to come down Belgrade from New Turnpike, obtain water from a hydrant down the road and feed this water into Engine-Tanker 26-8. Members from both departments continued to arrive as well as the Mountain View Fire Department and immediately worked to help knock down the fire in a timely manner with minimal damage to surrounding property. Due to the swift actions of everyone involved, the fire was contained to the shed and backyard with only minor damage to nearby houses from the heat of the fire.
The fire was placed under control and members worked over the next couple hours to wet down hot areas to prevent any fire from reoccurring. Rensselaer County Department of Public Safety Fire investigators took over the scene and are investigating the cause of the fire.
The Pleasantdale Fire Department would like to thank all of its members, EMS personnel, dispatchers, and mutual aid partners for their professionalism and quick action through this incident. The commitment they have shown time and time again makes our communities safe. We want to extend our thanks to the following mutual aid partners:
Speigletown Fire Department
Mountain View Fire Department
Hoosic Valley Rescue Squad
Rensselaer County Bureau of Public Safety Fire
Rensselaer County Bureau of Public Safety Dispatch Center
Lastly, everyone at the Pleasantdale Fire Department wants to thank the swift and undeniable actions of the community members who noticed something was wrong and took action to help. From calling 911, using their own hoses to try and prevent any further damage to property or extinguish small fires, or simply offering help to firefighters working, all of these actions do not go unnoticed and are what make this small community as great as it is. We want to remind all our community members to never hesitate to call 911 if you hear or see something out of the normal.
