The inferno that struck three blocks of downtown Cohoes on Nov. 30, 2017, started as a porch fire.

Skip Dickstein, a veteran Times Union photographer, heard the initial call at 1:30 p.m. on the police scanner and dashed to the scene.

When he arrived at 2 p.m., 30 mph winds had whipped that porch fire into a frenzy. The blaze had already swallowed two buildings and was quickly taking over swaths of downtown Remsen Street.

Heavy flames from two building in Cohoes N.Y. @nysfirechiefs pic.twitter.com/bkfiVLiNmb

— ©Skip Dickstein (@SKIPSCAM) November 30, 2017

"I've covered a lot of fires," Dickstein said. "This one was just amazing, with the wind, and the volume of smoke, and the number of fires."

Dickstein was standing downwind of the blaze, cloaked in smoke and debris, when he sent out his first photos on Twitter at 2:35 p.m. It was most devastating blaze he'd ever witnessed in his 44 years photographing breaking news, he said, and he knew he needed to get a better angle to capture that.

"I've worked as volunteer firefighter and knew I needed to get on the other side of the fire," he recalled.

Dickstein walked a few blocks east, then south, to reach the origin of the blaze. He arrived just in time to capture fireballs barreling out the windows of 228 Remsen and down the street — an image that would be seen around the world.

This photo would become the Times Union print edition's Page 1 photo. (Skip Dickstein | Times Union)

As Dickstein traversed downtown Cohoes, he called city desk editor Mike Goodwin and dictated details for an online news story. Several times over the course of the afternoon, Dickstein called Goodwin back and handed his phone to a witness, who would tell the editor his or her story.

One of those phone interviews was with the teenage son of the man who would later be charged with starting the fire.

John Gomez, 16, got a call about the fire and rushed to his home, finding it destroyed. "My house is on fire. It was on fire - it's gone now," he said.

At 4:30 p.m., as the scope of the fire was coming into focus, editors decided to send a second photographer, Lori Van Buren.

"I knew it had to be real bad," she recalled. "I had no idea how bad."

Van Buren arrived at the smoke-filled north end of the scene. With the castle-like historic former home to Cramer's Armory building still standing in the background, firefighters douse flames. (Lori Van Buren / Times Union)

"I would look up and see buildings and, seconds later, I would look into my lens and couldn't see anything," Van Buren recalled. "The wind was blowing so hard and the smoke was so thick."

She found reporter Chris Churchill, who took her east and south — the same route Dickstein discovered — and showed her the fire through a gap in fences that led to Remsen Street. Van Buren emerged just across the street from the blaze and posted her first images at 6:30 p.m.

As Van Buren and Churchill were circumventing the blaze, Dickstein was getting ready to leave. As he walked to his car, he saw distraught residents returning home to discover the damage.

"These people were just realizing they lost their homes," he said.

Meanwhile, Van Buren was shooting the image that would be named one of the day's top pictures by the Associated Press and, like Dickstein's fireball photos, would be published worldwide. Associated Press's Top Picture of the Day: Firefighters from around the region work to control a multi-structure fire on Thursday, Nov. 30, 2017 in Cohoes. The blaze broke out in downtown Cohoes, just north of Albany, and was stoked by 20 to 30 mph winds. Three buildings were destroyed, 18 others were damaged and at least 20 people were displaced. The city is under a state of emergency.  (Lori Van Buren, AP | Times Union)

"I had a friend call me to say he saw my photos on a foreign news site when he was vacationing in Ecuador," Dickstein said. BBC News in London messaged him on Twitter asking to use his photographs.

Within six hours of when the fire started — and while it was still burning — John A. Gomes, 51, of Cohoes was charged with felony reckless endangerment and misdemeanor arson.

Gomes is accused of starting a barrel fire in his backyard that quickly spread out of control.

The fire is said to have started in the rear of a building near 228 Remsen St., where Gomes lives.

"It is the worst disaster the city has ever seen," said Mayor Shawn Morse. The city was under a state of emergency. Firefighters from throughout the Capital Region responded to the blaze and worked through the night. (Skip Dickstein | Times Union)

Weather conditions Thursday were dry and windy all day, with gusts up to 30 mph.

At about 7 p.m., a welcome rain began to fall.

It was the continuous work of the firefighters that stayed in the minds of both photographers that night. Both returned home smelling of smoke. Dickstein said his wife could smell his soot-covered car from inside their home.

Strong winds had carried embers across city blocks, sparking fires where crews did not expect to battle flames. Thirty-two buildings sustained damages.

"I was having a hard time breathing," Van Buren said. "All I could think of was how do firefighters do this all the time?"

One firefighter was taken to the hospital with unspecified injuries, but remarkably no other injuries were reported. Firefighters braved dangerous winds, smoke and heat while battling the Cohoes blaze. (Skip Dickstein | Times Union)

"While everyone else runs away from fires, these guys go into the fires," Dickstein said of the first responders. "And we (journalists) are right behind them." Joe Hostig, owner of Smith's of Cohoes, reflects on the damage to his business after a multi-alarm fire consumed three buildings and damaged at least 30 others. (Skip Dickstein | Times Union)

City tries to comprehend impact of devastating downtown blaze
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