UPDATE: Burned Funeral Home to be Razed

The funeral home says it was able to save numerous items such as records that were housed in the first floor.

Some of the items that were smoke damaged should be able to be restored, reported the Albany News.

An official report on the fire is expected within the next few weeks.

Original Story:
Several fire departments battled a fire at an Albany funeral home for hours Wednesday night.

Highway 180 was closed and electricity was shut off to several homes around downtown Albany as crews fought the flames at the Godfrey-Neese Funeral Home.

The smoke was so thick a handful of nearby homes were evacuated and several businesses were closed.

"The whole back side of the building was in flames," said Pat Bales, who watched as the fire engulfed the building.

Caretaker Sam Burge stopped by the funeral home just two hours before the flames broke out.

"It's heartbreaking. It's more or less like one of the family," he said.

Smoke was visible throughout much of downtown Albany Wednesday evening. Authorities said they're concerned the smoke could pose health problems.

"With a building being this old, there would be asbestos in there," Sheriff Ed Miller said.

Miller said the roof of the building was made with a petroleum-treated lumber that made it difficult to fight the flames.

"Same thing that they treat telephone poles, railroad ties, things of that sort with to preserve the lumber. That causes problems with the fire department because that petroleum-based chemical in that lumber burns for a long time," he said.

The funeral home dates back to the 1920's. Longtime residents said it's part of the town's history that can never be replaced.

"It's just very sad. I just hate to see anything like that happen," Bales said.

Officials are not yet sure about the cause, but said it may have been electrical.

Firefighters from Albany, Shackelford County, Abilene, Breckenridge, and Moran were still on  the scene as of 10:20 Wednesday night.