The two-story building with four apartments at Ferry Street and Fourth Avenue in downtown Albany has stood there for 76 years. A fire nearly destroyed it on the Fourth of July, but the owners say they will rebuild.
You can’t know how excellent a service the ambulance crews of the Albany Fire Department provide until you try it out. Twice in the last two weeks I had the unwelcome opportunity to do just that.
Part of the Pacific Boulevard overpass in Albany looks different these days: It has been cleared of most of the vegetation that made the place a fire danger in dry years, as it did last summer.
This unseasonal display caught my eye on a ride through Albany’s Bryant Park on Wednesday. The sunshine was deceptive. The temperature was in the 50s, not bad for the middle of November, but not exactly river recreation weather either.
This was not, it is safe to assume, a case of spontaneous combustion. I came across what was left of a trash can on the Dave Clark Riverfront Path on Wednesday afternoon.
If you live in the area covered by the Albany Fire Department, you might want to ask your insurance company about lowering your fire insurance premiums. Why? Because the Insurance Services Office has just upgraded the department’s “public protection classification” to a 2, up from a 3.
On the riverfront beat, a case of false alarm
It looked like a serious situation, and it could have been, with Albany police and the fire department deployed on the banks of the Willamette River and a drone flying overhead.
Tags: Albany Fire Department, Albany police, Albany riverfront, Dave Clark Path, suspicious item, Water Avenue, water rescue team