Sunday's Ironman competition at Lake Placid could have been very different. Caitlin Landers explains how a fire in the village could have changed the course.

LAKE PLACID, N.Y. -- Sunday's Ironman competitors were pumped up for the triathalon, and many were feeling the competitive spirit. 

"This will be my third one, and I don't have as good reason as I do for the prior other than trying to make sure that my good friends don't end up finishing any more than I do," said Ironman competitor Dominic Catalano.

But there was a close call for the triathalon. A fire from Saturday evening could have changed the race course. Officials were called in just before 6:30 p.m. to stop the fire near Mirror Lake, where the 2.4 miles swim portion was scheduled to take place. 

Two brothers say they were shocked when they saw the buildings.

"When we were walking down the hill, we saw big puffs of smoke and we were like, 'what happened,' and then, so, we just started walking down. And then we just could see even more puffs of smoke and we got closer and closer and there was a fire," said Lake Placid visitor Kaelan Chudzinski.

"But the fire wasn't coming out so it started to stop, then it kept going, then stopping, kept going until it started to get really big," said Rian Chudzinski.

The Department of Health checked out the water Sunday to make sure it was free of oil slicks or runoff from the fire. With the green light from the DOH, the competition was on. 

More than 2,500 people participated in Ironman, and the cause of the fire is under investigation.