Fire Destroys Abandoned Factory Along Upstate NY Creek

BEACON, N.Y. (AP) — Fire officials are investigating the cause of a blaze that destroyed an abandoned factory located in a park along a Hudson Valley creek.

The Poughkeepsie Journal reports (http://pojonews.co/2kVlCN4 ) the fire was reported around 3:30 a.m. Tuesday in a former factory at Madam Brett Park in the Dutchess County city of Beacon, the west bank of the Hudson River.

Beacon fire officials say the blaze had been burning for some time and was undetected until dispatchers from across the river in Newburgh alerted local authorities.

Firefighters battled the fire for three hours and prevented the blaze from damaging a popular boardwalk that runs along a stretch of Fishkill Creek that was lined with hat factories in the 19th century.

The boardwalk provides access to parkland owned by Scenic Hudson, a Poughkeepsie-based environmental and land conservation organization.

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Information from: Poughkeepsie Journal, http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com