Man hospitalized after Watervliet house fire

WATERVLIET — A ferocious house fire tore through a Watervliet house Sunday evening.

Fire Chief Tom Garrett says a father had to throw his two young children out of the front window to escape the flames.

When crews arrived at 25th Street and Fourth Avenue, the house was fully involved.

This was a tough fire to fight. There was a lot of fire in the attic, and firefighters had to do a lot of cutting to get to the fire.

The girls are 4-year-old twins.

The house is a total loss.

“These guys did a great job knocking down the fire,” said Chief Garrett. “We’re very fortunate that we don’t have any fatalities here, fortunate the father was able to get his children out the window. Like I say, he was throwing them out the window as the flames were going up.”

The father’s family says he is still in the hospital being treated for smoke inhalation, and that the four- year-old twins are doing okay. Their mother wasn’t there because she was having a medical procedure done.

The family has lost everything.

It took firefighters 30 minutes to get the fire under control.