COLONIE, N.Y. (NEWS10) — It’s been one year since a house fire left three people dead and injured two others on Locust Park in Colonie. Fire Chief Jeff Kayser shared that this was the worst fire he has responded to in his 44-year-career, however it made mental health an even larger priority for his crew as they faced new challenges recovering from this.
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“I knew when I got there that it wasn’t going to be survivable for very long, just based on how much fire we were seeing and the velocity of the smoke that was exiting the house.” said Jeff Kayser, Colonie Fire Company Fire Chief. “This was the worst that I’ve seen in my time here.”
The fire broke out around 7 p.m. on Jan. 27, 2025 on Locust Park, right around the corner from the Colonie Fire Company station. Kayser said his team responded within two minutes and found heavy smoke. He later learned that the house had no working smoke detectors.
“Even though it was only 7 o’clock at night, the occupants of that house didn’t have any advance notice, they didn’t have enough advance notice that would’ve made a difference,” said Kayser. “Two people barely got out and they both got burned escaping the house.”…