Five people injured as fire guts home

Dec. 19--ACCORD -- Five people were injured, at least one seriously, when a fire gutted their home at 102 Mettacahonts Road early Monday.

A passerby spotted the fire and called it in, and Ulster County Sheriff's Sgt. Stewart McKenzie had also seen it. When McKenzie got to the home, the last of the residents was climbing out of a window, the sheriff's office said.

Officials have not identified the family.

One of the victims was transported to Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla with serious burns. The other four were transported to a Kingston-area hospital, Accord Fire District Chief Henry Grajowski said.

"They have nothing right now but what they had on their backs," Grajowski said. "I feel so bad for them."

The Red Cross is assisting the victims, he added. He said the family had insurance.

The cause of the fire is under review by the county Arson Task Force, but Grajowski said the cause may have been a wood stove in the living room.

The home was left a charred ruin rimmed in ice from firefighting efforts. Firefighters shuttled water from across the street, where the Rondout Valley Resort sits.

The house was fully engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived. Roughly three dozen firefighters from several departments worked the fire with Accord, Grajowski said. Those included Kerhonkson, Stone Ridge, Napanoch, Olive and High Falls. Kerhonkson-Accord Rescue, Mobile Life and Central Hudson also assisted. Departments were at the scene until after 8 a.m.

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