Niskayuna house fire under investigation

PHOTOGRAPHER: Peter R. Barber

Firefighters battle a house fire at 4350 Buckingham Dr. in the Stanford Heights fire district of Niskayuna Thursday, July 17, 2014.

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A previous version of this story gave the wrong house number. The house fire was at 4350 Buckingham Dr.

NISKAYUNA — At 6:15 a.m. on Thursday, a neighbor noticed a fire at 4350 Buckingham Dr. in Niskayuna and called 911.

The Stanford Heights fire district took the call and responded along with five other departments, including both Niskayuna districts, two Colonie departments, and the Carman Fire Department in Schenectady. Two more were on standby.

No one was home at the time. The fire was under control in 45 minutes.

The large number of assisting departments were necessary because of the time of day, said John Courter, second assistant chief at Stanford Heights.

“A lot of guys were going to work, so we were short-staffed,” Courter said. Many of the firefighters involved in this morning’s blaze were volunteers.

One volunteer firefighter was treated for heat exhaustion. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

Courter said the damage was significant, but that the family will eventually be able to come home.

“They’re not going to move in in a week, but it’s definitely reparable,” he said.

This story originally appeared at YourNiskayuna.com.