by Kieron Kramer
At around 2:30 am on Saturday, April 14, a home at 29 Kautz Hollow Road in Grafton was destroyed by fire. Rick Bly and his wife were home at the time and were able to escape unharmed. Their daughter was away visiting a friend, but the family dog, which ran back into the house, had to be brought out again. [private]The Blys went to stay at their father’s house. With the residents safe, the biggest concern was moving a fuel truck that was parked near the house.
The fire began in an attached chicken coop when the light warming the baby chicks set the coop on fire. Grafton Fire Chief Jim Goyer said, “The house is totalled. It was a stubborn fire that wouldn’t go out, and we couldn’t get to it.” Goyer said the firefighters had to take every ceiling down and pull the old planks, cedar shakes and plywood off the roof because the flames were “caught in the rafters and there was stinking, nasty brown smoke.” The Fire Company pumped water from Dan Sherman’s pond nearby. Then Goyer called for the tanker from Eagle Mills, then Hoosick and then Raymertown. It took over an hour and a half to bring the fire under control.
About 40 firefighters from Grafton, Eagle Mills, Hoosick, Petersburgh, Pittstown and Raymertown answered the call. Seven of these were from Grafton – just enough to drive up all the Grafton equipment except the rescue truck, Goyer reported. Pittstown brought fifteen firefighters and a rescue truck. “I’m glad they came,” Goyer said, “we were whipped.” The firefighters were there until about 6 am. It was a dark and dangerous fire scene. Luckily, no one got hurt.
The old house may have been a school at one time. Later, Dotty Cooper used to live there.[/private]