Minor fire may be latest in suspicious string
TROY, N.Y. » City firefighters Wednesday morning fought the latest in what officials are investigating as a possible string of suspicious fires in abandoned houses in the northern part of the city.
Assistant fire Chief Eric McMahon said firefighters were called to 29 Park Ave., where they quickly extinguished a small fire in the abandoned home.
“It was a small fire that was discovered by workers who were working around the building,” McMahon said at the scene. “It was extinguished immediately, but because of the heightened scrutiny, we’re investigating it.”
If confirmed to be suspicious, it would be the fourth such fire reported so far this month. Wednesday’s fire came a day after firefighters responded to a small blaze set to the front of a vacant house on 102nd Street. Firefighters again were able to quickly douse those flames, which caused only minor damage to the front of the house.
Two weeks earlier, crews were called to fight a suspicious fire July 4 at 102nd Street and 5th Avenue and another two days later that destroyed a vacant home near the corner of 5th Avenue and Northern Drive and damaged a neighboring convenience store.
While the official cause of Wednesday’s fire has yet to be determined by investgators, McMahon said he was confident it was not the result of natural causes.
“It doesn’t have any power, it doesn’t have any utilities,” said of the vacant property, “so there was nothing [else that could have caused the fire].”