Fire destroys abandoned house in Albany

CAPITAL REGION, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- Albany Fire Fighters battled a blaze at 610 3rd street. It was an abandoned Red “X” marked house, the fire leaving the neighborhood without power on a very cold day.  “There's lives in danger. Our kids, people and everything, like my grandmother, she is at 520 3rd Street and the power is off. She's on oxygen tanks,” said Paul Whitman an Albany resident who lives on 3rd street.

Whitman has lived on the block for 15 years. He feels that this fire could have been avoided saying, “My daughter lives at 524 3rd Street and has concerns about all these, like buildings around here. You know where fire is going on. Our kids get ready. It seems like our mayor, our city, whatever, nobody wants to do anything about these houses.”

Like many other residents in West Hill neighborhood, Whitman has one thing on his mind, electricity. “It's just, wondering how long it's going to be before you know, it gets on. It's just totally crazy,” stated Whitman.

Albany Fire Chief, Joseph Gregory, says the house was vacant when the fire began just before 3 pm Tuesday afternoon. “They found a heavy fire in 610, blown out all the windows in the front door. The fire did communicate to 608 3rd Street,” said the chief.

Gregory explained that it was fortunate that no one was injured when the fire reached an adjoining two apartment house at 608 3rd Street.  While dealing with the blaze at 610 3rd Street, crews investigated a possible fire a few doors down at 602. The chief says they are looking to see if the fires are related.  610 will need to be demolished and is expected to come down, Wednesday.

He says when the conditions are this cold it can make it very dangerous for everybody involved. “It's freezing. There's ice. There's wind. So, this fire is what drove the fire into that second building. So, the wind is, was a big factor here.”

The chief reiterated if you see something, say something. Especially when you see people enter an abandoned building marked with a Red “X”. Chief Gregory urges residents to call the Albany Police Department at (518) 438-4000 so the building can be secured.

National Grid was able to restore power by 7 pm Tuesday evening.