"I glanced at it really quick, didn't seem like a big deal. I got behind the counter to call 911 and before you know it, it ha[d] shot up the back," said Louis Rizzo of Rizzo's House of Flowers.

Friday morning, one year later, Louis Rizzo recalled the moment the massive fire got underway on Remsen Street in Cohoes.

His flower shop was right across the street as the flames began to spread.

"It got to the point where you could not even open the front door [because] the heat was so extreme," Rizzo said.

The fire damaged 32 buildings, including Rizzo's House of Flowers. Luckily, his business never missed a beat.

The shop reopened the following day but Rizzo says his building had about six figures worth of damage, mostly from water.

"All the wood needed to be replaced in the front of the building. The windows, the corners of our roof," Rizzo said.

The fire lead to three buildings and a garage being demolished. A fourth building was set to be knocked down due to the damage until Don Russell stepped in.

"Just to see it consume so much in such a short period of time, I've never seen anything like it," Russell said.

He took over the historic building shortly after the fire and went to work. A year later, Russell is finishing up work on two apartments in the upstairs, and will soon begin construction for an Italian bistro on the first floor.

"The city of Cohoes has been nothing but great to work with. We see the potential of what downtown Cohoes is going to be in the future," Russell said.

Russell also owns two other restaurants on Remsen Street — both suffered minor damage.

But Russell and Rizzo both know it could have been much worse.

"We were able to get back on our feet quickly. We really never stopped and just kind of work[ed] through it and rebuilt as we went," Rizzo said.

He anticipates all the repairs to his building will be completed by Spring.

As for Russell, one apartment is already occupied and the other is expected to be leased in the next few days.