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AMSTERDAM, N.Y. (AP) - Police say someone set an early-morning fire that destroyed a former brush-making factory in a Mohawk Valley city and spread to nearby houses, forcing dozens of people from their homes.

But Amsterdam Police Det. Sgt. Owen Fuhs (foos) says the blaze in the abandoned building full of stored books hasn't been declared arson because investigators don't yet know who set the fire or why.

Officials say the fire broke out around 1 a.m. Thursday at the defunct Eddie Brush Co. factory. Amsterdam is about 30 miles northwest of Albany.