Operations & Training

Hudson, NY, Firefighters Save City's Olympic Torch on Last Day of 2024 Games

Aug. 12, 2024

Firefighters were called out after the top of the Olympic Torch in Hudson came lose, with the fuel ignited the body of the torch.

Peter Matthews

Firefighters from the City of Hudson pose with the Olympic torch that ignited Sunday morning after the cover was dislodged, just hours before the 2024 Olympic Games came to an end.

Firefighters in Hudson saved their own Olympic torch, which has been burning the small upstate New York city since June.

Police called City of Hudson firefighters at 10:23 a.m. to the intersection of Green and Columbia streets to help contain a fire that spread from the flame to the torch itself.

"Normally the flame is only at the top however the entire torch itself was fully engulfed," fire officials posted on Facebook.

They said the lid of the torch was dislodged, which allowed the fuel to ignote the torch itself.

Firefighters repositioned the wick in the torch and secured the lid back on the torch, just hours ahead of the closing of the 2024 Olympics. Firefighters and police officers then "unceremoniously relit the torch for the final day of the Olympic Games."

"Not even the Olympic torch is immune from accidental fires."

About the Author

Peter Matthews | Editor-in-Chief/Conference Director

Peter Matthews is the conference director and editor-in-chief of Firehouse. He has worked at Firehouse since 1999, serving in various roles on both Firehouse Magazine and Firehouse.com staffs. He completed an internship with the Rochester, NY, Fire Department and served with fire departments in Rush, NY, and Laurel, MD, and was a lieutenant with the Glenwood Fire Company in Glenwood, NY. Matthews served as photographer for the St. Paul, MN, Fire Department.