Local News
Jan 26, 2026

Chris Gaige
Staff Writer
cgaige@adirondackdailyenterprise.com

A heavily damaged shop is seen at 97 Station St. on Sunday in Lake Placid after a Friday evening structure fire. (Enterprise photo — Chris Gaige)

LAKE PLACID — A commercial building shop appears to be a complete loss after a Friday evening structure fire. Firefighters said there were no deaths or injuries, and only minimal heat damage to the siding of one of the nearby residences.

Though the cause of the fire remains under investigation by Essex County Emergency Services, it does not appear to be suspicious, according to Lake Placid Volunteer Fire Department 1st Assistant Chief Jennifer Marshall.

LPVFD responded to 97 Station St. just after 6 p.m. on Friday. Upon arrival, Marshall said the structure was fully engulfed in flames. She said firefighters immediately began suppression efforts and called for mutual aid. The Saranac Lake and Wilmington volunteer fire departments responded to the scene, while the Upper Jay Volunteer Fire Department stood by at the station.

Marshall said it took about an hour to get a majority of the fire knocked down, and then a few hours working on different hot spots, which took longer to get to.

She said that in all, about 40 firefighters responded, adding that strong numbers become especially important in frigid weather. Low temperatures Friday evening dipped below zero, and were in the negative teens by the time firefighters left the scene around midnight Saturday.

“With the cold weather, firefighters need to switch in and out, be able to warm up and be able to eat and drink,” she said. “All of that is so important to keep them going.”

With the extreme cold, firefighters had to keep water running through the trucks after the active suppression efforts so the parts would not be damaged from water freezing and expanding. Water was able to be drawn from the hydrants on Station Street.

Given how involved the structure was upon arrival, Marshall said firefighters’ immediate goal was to contain the flames and prevent any damage to nearby properties.

“Had it been summertime, we might have had even more of a problem there,” she said. “(The neighbors) did have a little bit of their siding become wilted, but the fire did not spread to their house, thankfully. It was just the heat exposure.”