SARANAC LAKE - A report of a grass fire on Middle Saranac Lake sent members of the Saranac Lake Volunteer Fire Department into action at 1:28 p.m. Thursday.
Although the fire was initially reported as being on Middle Saranac, near Shaw Island, volunteers determined the blaze was actually at a campsite on nearby Round Lake, in an area of thick hemlock trees and grass. Eight firefighters responded in the department's boat and extinguished the fire with water drawn from the lake via portable pumps.
The cause of the fire was undetermined and was being investigated by state Department of Environmental Conservation forest rangers.
DEC spokesman David Winchell said many of the department's rangers were at a training session in Warrensburg when the fire was reported, so Saranac Lake firefighters handled the immediate response. One ranger did eventually arrive on scene, he said.
Saranac Lake firefighters were back at the fire station by roughly 6 p.m.