Early Sunday morning flames engulfed the home of Bill Halloran. RPI senior Zach Ashwell was walking from friend Ian Blanch’s house to his car parked in the Academy Hall parking lot when he saw flames coming from the home.
At 4:48 am the Troy Fire Department received a call from Ashwell and Blanch concerning the fire at Halloran’s home at 110 College Avenue opposite Academy Hall. According to the Troy Fire Department, the fire began near the front of the second floor of the two-story home. While waiting for the fire department to arrive, the students ran back to the house to offer help. Two female members of Halloran’s family told Ashwell and Blanch that someone else was trapped inside.
"They could not get him out," said Ashwell.
"It all happened pretty quick. Someone needed help; we were there and it seemed like the right thing to do," said Blanch.
Halloran was trapped in a stairwell on a second floor of the house. The students were able to find Halloran and helped him down the stairs to the doorway of the first floor.
As the authorities arrived, the students were joined in their efforts by first-floor resident Brian Quigley. When the three brought Halloran out of the house he was not breathing; He was later resuscitated by emergency response crews at the scene and transported to Samaritan Hospital.
Halloran sustained a number of injuries including smoke inhalation and third degree burns. He was later transported by helicopter to the Westchester Burn Center in Westchester County, New York where Halloran, 53 years old, succumbed to his injuries late Monday evening.
Two firefighters also suffered injuries while responding to the fire but were later released from the hospital. One pulled a tendon in his arm while the other experienced heat exhaustion and smoke inhalation.
Five engine companies, a ladder company, a rescue company, two fire department ambulances, and a private ambulance responded to the two-alarm fire, said Troy Assistant Fire Chief Craig Leroy.
Jake Berry, a graduate student and next door neighbor, awoke to the sound of shattering glass and heavy smoke as fire fighters arrived on the scene.
"The fire was pretty much under control at 5:30 am," Berry said.
The home experienced water damage on the first floor, smoke damage throughout the second floor, and the front room where the fire started was completely gutted.
Assistant Chief Leroy has not been able to file a report because the cause of the fire is still under investigation. The Troy Record reported yesterday that the fire "appears to have been caused by a smoldering cigarette. Control of the investigation has shifted from the Troy Fire Department to the Troy Police Department and Sgt. John Waters has been named lead investigator.
