The New York herald., 1872-07-08
THE WEST ALBANY FIRE.
Tho Progress Of the Conhagration- Scarcity OF
watsr-Total Loss slO2, ,o00-An Engine
Spark or an Incendiary?

ALBANY, N. Y, July 7, 1872
The Express Of this city will tomorrow morning
contain the following accurate additional particulars
of the fire at West Albany last evening"
As soon as the fire was discovered the locomotive
engine, to which Is attached powerful forcing
pump. was brought into service, as also steam hre
engine belonging to the railroad company Two or
three lines 0fhose were also stretched from hydrants
but
OWING TO THE SCARCITY OF WATER
the streams were not effective, and the progress
Of the fire could not be checked Meantime steam
ers /, and arrived, but some time elapsed before
they could be brought into service, and when they
went to work the supply of water was so meagre
that their streams were necessarily small. In less
than forty minutes the paint shop was totally
destroyed, together with twenty-one cars within
the building, and thirty-one loaded and empty cars
THE HEAT WAS INTENSE,
and the ties ut several points became fgnlted,
threatening the destruction Of a vast amount OF
second alarm was sounded, and steamers Nos.
g. 4and6 responded quickly, but could give no
assistance as, owing to the crowded condition @ oi
the tracks by the cars, which were removed from
the vicinity OF the fire, the steamers could not be
taken to hydrants. The fremen and railroad EN-, Ic
fames which were raging furiously in the cars and
SUCCEEDED IN REMOVING THE CARS
which thus far had escaped the fire to place of
safety, thus preserving the other shops and hun
dreds of cars: Many Of them, filed with freight,
were saved. II was fortunate there was no wind;
had there been it is almost certain that some If not
all of the other shops would have been consumed.
When the fire was discovered all the tracks south
of the paint shop were filed with empty cars ex-
tending great distance and on the north, on
tracks Q, and 8, there were large freight trains
the cars being filed with general merchandise des-
tined for New York, Boston and other points. some
Of these
CARS WERE FILLED WITH HAY
lumber.
rapidly. Fortunately there were no Oil cars In the
immediate vicinity Of the fire. There were IN the
paint shop nineteen passenger cars, two wagner
sleeping cars, six box freight cars and one caboose
car. One passenger coach and two caboOse cars
were taken out OF the shop after the discovery OF
the fire, but
that all attempts to save other cars proved lutle.
The watchman in charge of the other paint shop
informed us yesterday afternoon that in ten min
utes after the discovery of the fire. the entire build
observed are breaking through the roof in the
southwest corner of the building. There were
thirtyone freight cars standing on the tracks which
were totally destroyed. OF this number twenty were
loaded. Ten contained hay, and the remainder
lumber corn, hides, provisions ana general mer' 9T
chandize. All the cars in the paint shop were oio,
avng been repaired, and were run in l0r repantlng
THE DESTROYED ROLLING STOCK.
The estimated value of the passenger coaches
destroyed ssSOOO. The two Wagner sleeping cars
were valued at $1,000 each. The six freight cars IN
car at 800, making the total value of the cars
destroyed in the shop $4,000. The total value OF
the thirty freight destroyed on the tracks,
estimating each at $3.50, was s2o,l5o. The loss In
the shop Is estimated by Mr.. Joseph Jones, Super
intendent OF the Car Department at west
Albany, at $4,000. Ten Of the twenty
loaded cars destroyed were filled with hay
and three with lumber The contents of the re-
naming seven were not very valuable. The total
loss freghts Is estimated at $4,000, making the
apparent aggregate loss $l02,750. The actual loss,
1t Is believed by Mr. Jones, will not exceed $50, 900,
as iron and other material which Will be recovered
from the ruins will be worth an amount sufficient
to reduce the loss to the figures stated The Wagner
sleeping cars were insured FOR $4,000 each In the
Home insurance Company Of New York and the
Hartford Company of Connecticut. There was no
insurance on the balance of the property destroyed.
The origin OF the fire is unknown. The general
opinion, however, is that
1T WAS OF INCENDIARY ORIGIN.
Before the shop was closed at five O'Clock 1t was
thoroughly inspected by Alderman Burch, the
superintendent, and everything was in per-
feet order. 1t had been swept throughout
and there was no explosive materials OF
any kind in any portion Of the building.
The fire possibly may have been communicated to
the roof, where it was discovered, by spark from
locomotive, but the general opinion is that it was
the work Of design. A large force of track re-
parers and laborers worked most energeticaly yes
terday and last evening, and the debris OF the fire
had been removed from the roadway and new
tracks laid, that there was no delay in the pass
ing Of trains.