AMSTERDAM, N.Y. (AP) - A fire that destroyed an abandoned factory was intentionally set in the timber and brick building, which had become a hangout for partying kids and the homeless in this Mohawk Valley city, police said Thursday.
The blaze sent charred pages from stacks of books stored in the former Eddie Brush Co. factory fluttering throughout the city, once home to thriving carpet, broom and textile industries.
Bricks tumbled into the street when parts of the 4-story structure collapsed, sending onlookers scrambling. Heat buckled the siding on houses as far as 300 feet away as firefighters from seven companies attacked the fire, first reported just before midnight Wednesday.
It wasn't under control until about 6 a.m., in part because rubble from a collapsing wall ruptured a natural gas line that spewed flame until it could be dug out and shut off, police said.
About two dozen houses were evacuated as flames spread to two neighboring homes, heavily damaging both. The only injury reported was a firefighter treated for heat exhaustion.
Amsterdam police Detective Sgt. Owen Fuhs said the blaze hadn't been declared arson because investigators were still working to determine who set the fire and why.
He said the building - tucked between two hills in a working-class neighborhood dotted with abandoned and rundown houses - was unguarded and easy to get into.
"These old abandoned buildings and factories draw kids and draw the homeless," Fuhs said. "That building has had problems in the past."
Myra Santiago said her boyfriend, Edwin Rivera, was walking their 3-month-old rat terrier, Clyde, when the dog began barking. Rivera looked up and saw smoke coming from the old mill three doors down from Santiago's house. He ran home to alert everyone about the fire and called 911.
"That's the hero," said Santiago, nodding toward Clyde as the dog scrambled onto a neighbor's lap one street away from the factory.
Stacey Alibozek and Richard Menendez said they rushed outside and used garden hoses to wet down the back of their rental home in a vain attempt to keep the intense heat from buckling the siding.
"It was crazy," Alibozek said of the scene just down the hill from her upstairs apartment.
Firefighters on two ladders continued to hose down the smoldering debris at midday Thursday. Fire Chief Richard Liberti said his crews are likely to remain at the scene into Friday to douse hot spots, but most of the 50 or so displaced residents would be back in their homes later Thursday.
The city foreclosed on the property in February because taxes hadn't been paid, Liberti said. The name of the owner was not immediately available.
Amsterdam is home to many dilapidated former factories.
"They're difficult to secure because there are so many windows on the ground level," Liberti said. A pair of arson fires in the early 1990s destroyed one of the largest old mills, the former Mohasco carpet complex.
Retired firefighter Robert Forbes said it's disappointing to see another of the old mills meet its end.
"This city was a real boom town years ago," said Forbes, 82, who worked 32 years for the fire department. "It's a shame to see what it has become."
Janet Agresta is a co-owner of one of the heavily damaged homes across the street from the mill. She said her husband grew up in the home, and they raised their family there before moving out 15 years ago.
"It's pretty well shot, I think," she said, standing uphill from the house, which had a charred, partially caved-in roof. She said her in-laws and the upstairs tenant made it out safely.
