Fire Destroys Albany Area Apartments
Cohoes is a small, sleepy city in the Albany area. Very little ever happens there and the residents like it that way. But, Wednesday night some residents on Saratoga Street found their world shattered by a horrible apartment fire.
Around 9:45 PM, just as residents were heading to bed, the apartment fire broke out. Six people were inside the apartment building, all of whom made it out alive. A total of eleven people have been displaced from their homes.
One onlooker who worked across the street stated,
“I thought somebody was having a cookout until I noticed that the flames were getting too high, it was just a matter of seconds and the house was gone”. (News10)
The apartment building was not only a total loss, but was also deemed so unsafe that it was to be torn down within forty-eight hours of the fire. Generally, the length of time allowed before a demolition must be completed is somewhat longer. This raises questions and forces people to wonder if there is something the city doesn’t want people to see.
Since there is some speculation about how the fire spread so rapidly that late at night, eyebrows around the Capital District are raising at the idea of tearing down the only source of evidence. We will keep you updated as we learn more about the possible conflict between City Planning and the investigators.
Was this an act of arson? Is the city trying to avoid the cleanup costs that go with it? Is the owner trying to avoid those cleanup costs since their insurance isn’t likely to pay for it under the criminal acts exclusion? Is the city actually looking out for its residents and trying to ensure their safety from the nuisance that a burned-out apartment building can be? Only time will tell.
It appears at this time that no one in the building had Albany renters insurance, though some are finding assistance from local organizations.
