Thursday, February 21, 2019

Fighting Fire in the Wintertime

A recent Times Union article (which you can find here) got us thinking about some of the major winter fires in Schenectady County and the firefighters who braved the cold and icy conditions to extinguish these chilly conflagrations. We searched through our photo archives to look for photos of fires in the wintertime these are a few of the images we found.

One unexpected benefit of the Erie Canal was that having the canal running through the city gave firefighters easier access to a body water to pump for extinguishing fires. The quality of this water may not have been the best (see our previous blog post, The Odors of the Erie in Schenectady) but it was a much needed source of water before the invention of fire hydrants. Courtesy of the Grems-Doolittle Library Photo Collection.

This early December fire occurred at the New York Central Freight House which was located near Van Guysling and Edison Ave. Courtesy of the Grems-Doolittle Library Photo Collection.
The old Rotterdam Junction YMCA was destroyed by a fire in 1949. Courtesy of the Grems-Doolittle Library Photo Collection.
A devastating fire broke out at the First Reformed Church in Schenectady on February 1, 1948. The fire started around 4:45 pm and continued throughout the night. The first photo shows the fire destroying the steeple, the second photo shows the aftermath. Courtesy of the Grems-Doolittle Library Photo Collection.
This photo shows firefighters in action as they try to extinguish a fire at the Dearstyne Lumber Warehouse on Catalyn St. in Schenectady on December 16, 1968. Courtesy of the Grems-Doolittle Library Photo Collection