COLONIE — For the first time in its 70-year history, the local volunteer fire company that protects homes and businesses in an eastern swath of the town ceased operation Sunday amid an ongoing legal fight between the company’s firefighters and the commissioners who oversee its fire district.
Schuyler Heights Fire Company, located just outside of Watervliet, went out of service under the command of Chief Raymond Smith at 2:15 p.m., Saturday, according to Colonie Fire Coordinator Mike Romano.
The end came early, about 11 hours before the agency was set to formally halt operations. Fire Company President Jeff Belschwinder and Bradley Pinsky, an attorney for the fire commissioners, offered conflicting reasons for the hastened halt…