LOUDONVILLE – Colonie police, Shaker Road Loudonville Fire Department and Town of Colonie Fire Services personnel responded to a brush fire at the traffic roundabout at the intersection of Albany Shaker and Maxwell Roads on Monday, June 5 at 12:30 a.m.
The fire was quickly extinguished and Colonie police located Mark Marcus, 25, of Albany, nearby. An investigation determined that he set the fire and he was also linked to two other recent fires in the town.
In addition to the latest fire, Marcus, was implicated in brush fires on May 15 on Maxwell Road and May 31 on Everett Road.
“It Seems like he was fascinated with lighting small fires,” Colonie police Lt Daniel Belles said. “They were small brush fires and one of them spread to a church.”
The Blessed Virgin Mary of Czestochowa Church, located at 250 Maxwell Road was significantly damaged when the fire spread from the brush to a storage shed on the property and eventually to the church itself. The church sustained extensive damage to its siding and roof.
The fires allegedly started when Marcus ignited seed pods from cottonwood trees that spread to extremely dry brush. The white fluffy fuzz is everywhere this time of year and with little rain, it has been a relevant factor in many local fires this year.
“I think he thought what he was doing was harmless and that was not the case,” Belles said.
On May 30, a Delmar man discarded the end of a marijuana cigarette into an area loaded with seed pods and caused a fire at two buildings of an apartment complex that left eight families homeless. The flames spread within minutes. He was arrested on June 2 for lying to police about the incident.
City officials in Albany warned of the dangers in a May 30 Times Union article after lit fuzz jumped into trees at Buckingham Pond.
The seeds consist of the white fluff, but also have actual seeds of the trees that contain oil. When ignited, they flare quickly and are light enough to float as they do so which causes the flames to spread fast.
In the Colonie cases there were no injuries.
Marcus was charged with criminal mischief and arson in the fourth degree (because it was damage to a structure), both felonies, and two counts of arson in the fifth degree and one count of reckless endangerment, all misdemeanors.
He was was arraigned in Colonie Town Court and released to the supervision of Albany County Probation, pending a future court appearance.
This is still an active and ongoing investigation. Police ask that if anyone knows something that might be relevant to the investigation, please contact the Colonie Police Investigations Division at 518-783-2754 or report a tip anonymously to Capital Region Crimestoppers at 1-833-ALB-TIPS or capitalregioncrimestoppers.com.