A house along Northern Turnpike Road in Johnsonville was destroyed by fire on Monday, January 8. The call went out from the Johnsonville Fire Department about 9 am for mutual aid. Greenwich, Buskirk, Pleasantdale, Hoosic Valley, Raymertown, Pittstown, Valley Falls, Melrose, Speigletown and possibly others responded to the call.
Rensselaer County fire investigators were also on the scene. Firefighters obtained a plentiful supply of water from nearby Otter Creek, then pumped the water a quarter of a mile up the road to the blaze. At the scene it was distributed to smaller lines to men placed around the home and pumped into the house. Parts of the roof collapsed and the house appeared to be a total loss. There were no reports of injuries. The cause of the blaze was not available.