SamPratt.com

“We saw flames coming off of the wires,” said Hudson resident Zia Anger, describing this afternoon’s fire in the alley east of South 5th Street, between Warren and Union. The conflagration knocked out cable and internet to many Mid-Hudson subscribers, and to Verizon phone and internet clients in the southeastern reaches of the City.

According to another witness, the blaze began in a narrow gap between two garages on the south side of the alley, at least one of which appeared to be completely gutted. He told the officers investigating: “I bet some guy took his last puff of a cigarette and flicked it right between them.” 

MHC’s Jim Reynolds surveys the scene

Mid-Hudson Cablevision had several bucket trucks on scene by late afternoon, with linesman sorting out the many dangling loops of loose fiber. A man in sunglasses taking cameraphone pictures along turned out to be MHC President James Reynolds, who predicted that his company would have service back on before Verizon did.

 

And indeed, a lone Verizon tech parked on Sixth Street said that his company would be unlikely to restore phone and web to its customers before tomorrow at the earliest. “The brass don’t want to pay us overtime,” he confessed, appearing as irritated as the two customers who had converged on his small van.