Thursday blaze emits black smoke near downtown Albany

ALBANY — A Thursday afternoon blaze of railroad cross ties presented a black-smoke spectacle for onlookers and a scare for a nearby business adjacent to the fire.

Paul Dunn at D&D Kitchen Center said he noticed the fire in a field next to the business on the 600 block of North Washington Street at about 12:10 p.m.

“Basically, I saw them loading cross ties on that pile,” he said. “The fire was going and it looked like they were continually putting cross ties on that pile and it looked like they were deliberately burning it.”

The pile of burning cross ties emitted a cloud of thick black smoke that could be seen for blocks as firefighters doused the blaze with water.

Dunn said he called 911 after he noticed the fire. He did not know whether it was intentionally set.

With his workshop having burned in 2006, Dunn said he was particularly concerned.

“We’ve already burned down one time, and we don’t like fire,” he said. “Fire is not our friend.”

File Photo: Alan MauldinAlanMauldin[email protected]