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Another huge fire in Cohoes.
This time, it's the N.H. Kelman Scrap Metal yard on Euclid St, near route 787.
The fire broke our around 6 pm, and crews were still battling the flames hours later in some very tough conditions, with temperatures in the 90's.
"They've got 60 pounds of gear on," said mayor Shawn Morse. "It's taken its toll, so we called in more firefighters in to relieve them so they could kinda rotate. Let's just pray that this heat doesn't affect anybody too badly."
The fire was punctuated by several loud explosions. Morse says those were, in all likelihood, caused by propane tanks at the Kelman site. No one was hurt, but some people who live near the yard were evacuated, and a section of route 787 was closed for several hours. Police say it has since been re-opened.
This is not the first big fire at Kelman, which has been cited a couple of times by DEC for pollution violations. Times-Union says fires broke out in 1988 and again in 2011.
photo: WNYT-TV