ALBANY COUNTY — A quick-thinking environmental conservation officer, Michael Hamline, prevented a Voorheesville brushfire from spreading by using a folding  shovel.

The fire was reported on Tuesday, April 9, on State Farm Road, according to a release from the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation.

Hameline arrived within minutes at the scene of the 400-square-foot fire, “grabbed a folding shovel and used it to extinguish the brushfire before it grew larger,” the release said, adding, “Like many of his colleagues across the state, Officer Hameline is a volunteer member of his local fire department.”

The next day, April 10, Hamline responded to reports of anglers unlawfully using a cast net at Six Mile Waterworks Park in the city of Albany.

The DEC reminds anglers that cast nets are allowed only on the main stem of the Hudson River, downstream of the federal dam in Troy and in the Marine and Coastal District.

Current guides on fishing regulations in New York can be found at local fishing license issuing outlets, DEC Regional Offices, or online at https://dec.ny.gov/sites/default/files/2024-03/fishguide.pdf.