Passerby saves kids, dogs, sitter from fire

The blaze late Saturday rendered a two-story woodframe house on Route 32 uninhabitable.

NEW PALTZ, N.Y. » Two children, their two dogs and a baby sitter were rescued by a passerby late when the roof of a two-store woodframe home on state Route 32 caught fire, the local fire chief said Monday.

The two alarm blaze, at 296 Route 32 North, was called in to Ulster County 911 by a passerby at 11:42 p.m. Saturday, according to New Paltz Fire Chief David Weeks. He said another passerby saw two children, ages 5 and 8, standing behind a glass door inside the home and went inside to help the children, their baby sitter and two dogs escape safely.

Weeks did not know the age of the baby sitter, who he said had gone back inside the house to investigate the source of the blaze when the passerby arrived and brought everyone to safety.

All the occupants were safely outside when firefighters arrived, Weeks said. He said the fire was extinguished in about two hours.

Weeks said the cause of the fire remained under investigation but was not considered suspicious.

The fire destroyed about three-quarters of the roof and there also was smoke and water damage, rendering the house uninhabitable, the chief said.

He said the children and an adult resident “had a place to go” and did not need assistance.