4 adults, young girl displaced by fire
Four adults and a child lost their home in a fire early Friday that apparently was caused by a heater, according to Kerhonkson Fire Chief Steve Stephens.
A family friend said there were minor injuries among the residents and that two dogs and a cat perished in the blaze.
Stephens said the Kerhonkson Fire Department responded about 4:30 a.m. Friday to 6 Academy St., and firefighters found flames coming out of the windows of the mobile home.
“The family was already out” when firefighters arrived, and the intense heat of the flames made it impossible for firefighters to make an “interior attack,” Stephens said. “We had to fight it entirely from the outside.”
The chief said it took about an hour to douse the fire, and there then was a “heavy clean-up” period afterward, including ensuring that no hot spots remained.
The home was a “total loss,” Stephens said, adding that an electric heater is believed to have caused the fire.
Sherry Ellsworth, a friend of the residents, said the child who lived in the home is a 4-year-old girl. The other occupants were the child’s mother, the mother’s fiance and the mother’s parents, Ellsworth said.
She said the family lost everything in the fire and is staying with relatives in Kerhonkson.
Ellsworth said clothing and various household items are being collected for the family and can be dropped off at 18 Samsonville Road, Apartment 1, in
Kerhonkson.
Clothing sizes needed are child’s 7/8, woman’s XL and 2XL, and men’s XL and 4XL, as well as 3830 pants.
Shoe sizes needed are child’s 11, women’s 6½ and 7½, and men’s 10½ and 11W.
Other than Kerhonkson, fire departments at the scene included Accord, Napanoch and Stone Ridge, along with the Kerhonkson-Accord First Aid Squad.
The fire scene is just off U.S. Route 209 in Kerhonkson, near Kerhonkson Elementary School.