City of Poughkeepsie authorities have named two of the four people found dead after Monday's fatal fire on Academy Street.
Police say 28-year-old Shanate Fowler from Long Island and 36-year-old local Eduardo Young are among the victims. A third has been identified, but that person's name has not been released.
The Dutchess County Medical Examiner has not yet confirmed the identity of the fourth victim.
A cause for the fire has not yet been given.
"We don't want to have another tragedy where we're losing four lives of people, [where] we don't know if we're going to find family members who can pay respects," said Poughkeepsie Common Councilor Sarah Salem on Tuesday.
The victims are believed to be homeless, using the boarded-up building for shelter. A member of the organization Hudson River Housing says resources are available but in just the last year, homelessness has been growing in the community.
"The bottom line is that we need more affordable housing and we need more services that we can offer to people who are struggling with mental illness and addiction, which are two of the major issues that lead people to find themselves homeless," said Hudson River Housing Organizational & Community Development Director Elizabeth Celaya.
"We are addressing those vacant homes in a comprehensive with our Anti-Blight Task Force," said Poughkeepsie Mayor Rob Rolison.
The mayor says it benefits the community to repurpose the buildings, but it's not always possible, and most of them are not city owned.
"There are economic benefits to get these homes, rehab them, and either live in them or rent them. So there's an opportunity at the same time, but it is a challenge for governments to address them," Rolison said.
The city is trying to combine information on blighted properties to be able to address the problem, but it's just one step in the long-term solutions leaders are trying to come up with.
"I think whether you're talking about homelessness or vacant properties, this is really a community challenge and it requires a community solution — which means no one entity is going to be able to to fix this on its own, so we really need to be able to work together," said Celaya.
Four people found dead here, and the house set to be demolished. But those we spoke to say they hope to implement changes and make sure something like this never happens again.
The call for the 61 Academy Street blaze came in around 1:30 a.m. on Monday. Poughkeepsie Fire Chief Mark Johnson said it took firefighters more than three and a half hours to get the fire under control.
Johnson says the building had a hoarding situation, and the amount of stuff inside made it a struggle to fight the fire.
“There’s a pile of debris everywhere, very unsafe for the firefighters to maneuver through those. Concerned with not only the fire but with collapses, and being trapped and all of the materials that were in the building that wouldn’t normally be there in an occupied building,” said Johnson.
Firefighters were cautious, and none of them were hurt.
A cause for the fire has not yet been given.