RAY BROOK - A small fire damaged supplies at the Federal Correctional Institute in this hamlet Wednesday night.
The Saranac Lake Volunteer Fire Department responded to the blaze at 9:26 p.m. with two trucks and 22 members. Fire Chief Brendan Keough told the Enterprise that upon arrival, firefighters found heavy smoke in a rear loading dock.
"A sprinkler went off in the area and extinguished the fire," he said. "The fire was all contained to a small storage area."
According to Keough, a small amount of cleaning supplies caught fire and were damaged, but in general, the building was fine. He noted that water from the sprinklers ran out of the building.
"There wasn't much water damage," Keough said.
Firefighters said it appears that an electric heater hanging from the ceiling triggered the blaze, but Keough said the official cause won't be known until the Essex County Fire Investigation team wraps up its investigation.
"We can't say for sure, at this point, what actually happened to start the fire," he said.
Crews were back in service by 11:37 p.m.