Malone Towers residents evacuated in Sunday morning fire; no injuries reported

ALBANY — Residents of Hudson Malone Towers were evacuated from the downtown Albany building Sunday as local first responders worked to contain a fire inside at least one of the apartments.

Members of the Albany Police Department, Albany Fire Department and Dougherty County EMS responded to the incident which occurred around 10 a.m. at the Albany Housing Authority facility at 401 Flint Ave., across Jefferson Street from First United Methodist Church.

According to reports at the scene, no one was injured during the incident, which was believed to have started on a stove in one of the housing units. The apartment complex was evacuated because of smoke inhalation concerns.

Fortunately for those residents who call the facility home, members of First United Methodist Church saw what was going on and not only helped the elderly and disabled population who lives there get away from the building, they also opened up the church gym as a temporary shelter.

“We kept hearing a lot of the fire sirens and seeing ambulances and police,” said Ashley Crawford, director of the church’s early childhood nursery. “When I was walking out, I saw them trying to escort the residents out of the building, and when I saw that — and some of them looked like they could barely walk, they were having trouble just coming out of the building — I got in touch with some of the other church staff and we decided we would send our golf cart and get some help over there to get them out.”

Crawford said church leaders also made the decision to notify the Red Cross to coordinate relief events and to open the gym for the displaced residents to wait while the building aired out.

“We opened up our gym and got Red Cross involved,” Crawford said. “We got water, we had lunch provided, we had snacks, we have blankets and we just kind of opened it over here so they would have A/C (air conditioning) and bathroom facilities.

“We just kind of jumped in and went over there. It’s really a church-wide response. All the church members came and they stayed, passing out food and snacks and making sure they’re taken care of.”

First United also got some assistance from a few local businesses who immediately brought food to augment the water and blankets being supplied by the Red Cross. Little Caesar’s provided 20 pizzas, Burger King brought 50 hamburgers and Sam’s Club provided bags of potato chips, fruit trays and other assorted food items.

“We’re a church in the heart of downtown Albany with a heart for downtown Albany and I’m just so proud of our church and how they responded to this need,” said the Rev. Thad Haygood of First United Methodist. “We want to be a light here in downtown Albany and this we did not expect, but it was a perfect opportunity for us to open our doors and to be the light of Christ for the people at Hudson Malone Towers.

“I’m told so many other people have responded, Little Caesar’s, Burger King, and others have donated food, and we’re happy to partner with all of them and do that. What a blessing.”

That blessing was not lost on the residents of Hudson Malone Towers, many of whom were fast asleep when the fire alarms sounded.

“I was asleep when I heard the fire alarm go off,” resident Terrance Washington said. “It was about 10-something. I had to put my clothes on, my work uniform, and came downstairs and they put us over here across the street. They’re very nice. They’re all right.”

Tower resident Debbie Williams, who has been living in the facility for three months, wasn’t sleeping when the alarm went off, and therefore was able to get moving quickly enough where she could join other residents who were going moving through the facility trying to help clear the building.

“We went down the hall, beating on doors to make sure everybody got out and then all the older folks got out and they told us to go outside,” Williams said. “Nobody got hurt. It was pretty good. The alarm went off and they got us out and the Red Cross is here doing their thing.”

Albany Housing Authority Executive Director Dan McCarthy was also thankful of the support provided by the Red Cross, the church and others, saying it was good that the residents of the facility had attentive neighbors.

“We certainly do appreciate the work of First United Methodist supporting our residents, comforting them, giving them a place to go, with air conditioning,” said McCarthy. “It’s good to have such great neighbors across the street.”

McCarthy said the facility, which houses elderly and disabled residents who are able to care for themselves, has 95 individual apartments, and it was his understanding that all but two were currently occupied. Even though the housing authority does not provide any assistance to the residents of the facility, there is a fire alarm system that directly notifies the Albany Fire Department, which is located within a few blocks of the housing facility.

McCarthy said there have been fires at the apartment complex in the past, but that it had been years since one occurred.