Albany Herald

Firefighters battle a blaze Monday on the 400 block of North Jackson Street. No cause for the fire was known Monday afternoon, though reports stated that the structure was vacant.

ALBANY — Monday afternoon was an active time for firefighters from the Albany Fire Department, who found themselves working to extinguish the flames from a downtown fire as well as responding to a kitchen fire in another part of the city.

The downtown fire took place at 414 N. Jackson St., roughly a block away from the AFD’s headquarters. The fire was first reported at about 2:40 p.m.

Multiple AFD units were at the scene attempting to contain the fire, and Albany Police Department vehicles blocked off traffic to the site of the blaze while a crowd of spectators gathered to watch the situation unfold.

The structure, located at the corner North Jackson Street and West Residence Avenue, is thought to have been lost.

The cause of the fire was not clear Monday afternoon, although fire officials said they believed it began in the rear of the structure — which had reportedly been vacant for some time. It was also not immediately clear whether there was electricity running through the house.

At 3:45 p.m., firefighters still had hoses on the two-story building putting out the flames.

There was at least one structure nearby that was not vacant, proving to be the primary motivator for getting the fire under control.

“Our biggest concern was the building next door, which is inhabited,” said Fire Chief James Carswell from the scene.

While the situation on North Jackson Street was ongoing, units were called to respond to a fire at 1803 Samford Ave. Fire officials said that that particular blaze had been the result of a kitchen fire.

A woman had put food on her stove and went out on her porch, leaving the food unattended. The fire damage was limited to the kitchen, but there was smoke damage throughout the house, officials said.