An early morning fire caused heavy damage to a two-family house at 515 Washington Street in the City of Hudson on Wednesday.

Hudson volunteer firefighters were dispatched at 12:31AM to a reported futon on fire. Upon arrival Hudson firefighters encountered a working structure fire with heavy fire coming out the second-floor front windows and porch area of the three-story wooden structure. The fire quickly spread up the front of the building and into the third-floor attic.

First Hudson firefighters entering the house battled fire coming down the stairway from the second floor to the first-floor porch. An aggressive interior attack via both the front and rear stairs of the building knocked down the bulk of the fire within 20 minutes of arrival. Fire in the attic was then extinguished as well as fire in the eaves, walls and ceilings. The fire was under control by 1:00AM and mostly extinguished by 1:30 with only a few hot spots remaining.

The second story apartment, which was occupied, received extensive fire damage. The first story, which was under renovation, received heavy water damage. The exterior second floor porch suffered heavy fire damage and it was feared that the roof of the porch could collapse. Two cats perished in the fire.

City of Hudson Police and Code Enforcement Officers were on the scene to investigate the cause of the fire.

Hudson firefighters were assisted on the scene by the Greenport, Claverack and Catskill Fire Departments. Stottville and Catskill firefighters responded to the Hudson Central Station to provide citywide coverage while Hudson firefighters were at the scene of the fire. All Hudson and mutual aid fire units were back in service by 5:00 AM.