Structure Fire - 29 Conklin St. - City of Poughkeepsie Fire Department 9/08/2008

City of Poughkeepsie firefighters responded for a reported structure fire at #29 Conklin St off the west-bound arterial on the evening of September 8th. First-in companies found a heavy fire conditions in a a two-story wood frame dwelling with exposure problems. Via an aggressive interior attack, firefighters made a quick knockdown before the exposures became part of their problem however not before they had suffered some radiant heat damage. The structure was vacant at the time of the fire which was investigated by both the City of Poughkeepsie police and fire departments and was deemed of suspicious origin. As with many municipalities today, the operating budgets are getting tighter and Poughkeepsie is no different. There has been some talk recently of possibly taking one of Poughkeepsie's two ladder trucks out of service as a cost saving measure for the city. Both the City of Poughkeepsie mayor and comptroller responded to this fire and discussed the incident with Chief Ken Boyd and one can only assume they discussed the importance of having both ladders in service. In this particular incident, if the fire had spread to the adjoining structures, not having two ladders on the scene ready to go to work could have made a significant difference in the outcome.