Times Union, Albany, N.Y.
(TNS)
Aug. 30—GLOVERSVILLE — Police charged a 24-year-old city man with burglary and arson after fire tore through a vacant warehouse Thursday on West Ninth Avenue, fire officials said.
He was also charged with reckless endangerment and criminal mischief. The charges are all felonies and the man was given tickets to appear in city court on Sept. 9.
Firefighters were first called to the 10 W. Ninth Ave. at 2:30 a.m. Thursday, arriving to find flames consuming a building once used by the Taylor Made company.
Firefighters fought the blaze for hours and continued to pour water on the smoldering hulk into the afternoon.
Authorities announced the arrest Friday morning.
The building was not in use, officials said. City property records show that Lippert Components, the company that bought Taylor Made in 2018, sold the nearly 45,000-square-foot building to a New Jersey-based limited liability company in 2022 for $185,000.
Fire Chief Thomas Groff on Thursday said authorities were concerned people might have been in the structure despite city efforts to prevent trespassers from entering it.
A worker at a nearby laundry facility said that police had been dealing with trespassers at the building all year long and he often saw people being taken out in handcuffs.
The man said he saw workers boarding up the building a few weeks ago with "tons and tons of plywood."
Smoke and burning material could be smelled from more than a mile away but Groff said there were no hazardous materials in the building. The building is part of an industrial complex but homes are nearby.
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