Parts of the burning structure, floating with the current, imperiled the steamboats and the smaller craft tied up along the wharves.

The devastating wind-driven fire also consumed more than 500 buildings covering 75 acres (300,000 m2) of downtown Troy.

Luckily, NY Telephone personnel were working in that area and noted that things were not right, managing to stop traffic so that people were not on the bridge when it fell.

The current Green Island Bridge (shown in the photos) was opened four-and-a-half years later on September 12, 1981.

The two metal-covered frames, which straddle the roadway, house the counterweights and lift mechanisms.