SARANAC LAKE - A forest fire that started Friday afternoon behind the National Grid substation on state Route 30 in Paul Smiths was finally extinguished on Saturday.
"We were there until dark on Friday," said Paul Smiths-Gabriels Fire Chief Roger Smith. "We came back on Saturday morning and spent the day back there."
The fire was about a half-mile southeast of Paul Smith's College. An "All Call" was issued by the Franklin County emergency dispatch center Friday afternoon, summoning every fire department in the county to help fight the blaze, which affected a nine-acre wooded area. Smith said seven or eight departments from Franklin County assisted on Saturday. The Lake Placid and Bloomingdale volunteer fire departments from Essex County assisted both days.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation. Smith said, at one point on Friday, the flames were so high they reached the tops of the trees. As the entire area was forest, there was no property damage. One Paul Smiths-Gabriels volunteer had to be hospitalized for smoke inhalation. He was treated and released from the hospital.
The situation is still being monitored to make sure the fire doesn't reoccur.
"Crews went back in on Sunday, and it's going to be monitored by forest rangers over the next three days," Smith said.
Contact Nathan Brown at 891-2600 ext. 26 or nbrown@adirondackdailyenterprise.com.