On Wednesday, August 21st 2024, Potsdam Fire received a landline reporting a fire on the 2nd floor of SUNY Potsdam Heating Plant. Engine 49 (M. Maroney) responded at at 0754 hours and arrived on scene at 0755 hours. 36-2 (Dan McGregor) responded to the scene. It was found that contractors were welding on a hanging tank in the 2nd floor of the heating plant where it caught the insulation on fire around the tank. SUNY Potsdam heating plant staff had used a fire extinguisher to extinguish the fire before fire department's arrival.

Firefighters on scene used a garden hose to extinguish the smoldering insulation then removed the insulation from around the tank. The tank and surrounding area was checked with a thermal imaging camera to check for extension. Potsdam Rescue responded to the scene for fire standby, no injuries were reported. Potsdam Fire was in service at 0830 hours.