by Bea Peterson
According to Hoosick Falls Fire Chief Robert Bornt, the Hoosick Falls and North Hoosick Fire Departments were the first on the scene of a fire at the back of the Oak-Mitsui, Inc. building on First Street on Thursday, January 12, at approximately 10 am. The Chief said the fire was caused by an overheated pump on a laminate press. [private]The fire was confined to the press and was put out using dry extinguishers. “There is so much electrical equipment in there we didn’t want to use water,” the Chief said. They also had one truck on hand with fire suppressing foam in it. He added that there was concern regarding a heat transfer fluid leak, but it turned out to be non-hazardous. Due to the heavy smoke caused by the fire several fire companies responded.
On the scene were firefighters from Hoosick and Buskirk and the Johnsonville FAST team as well as the Hoosick and Bennington Rescue Squads. The Bennington Village and West Hoosick Fire Departments were on standby. Firefighters left the scene by 12:30 pm.
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