by Doug La Rocque
The home of Howard and Donna Baldwin at 2295 Route 2 in Grafton suffered serious fire, smoke and water damage Monday afternoon when flames broke out in an upstairs bedroom.
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One of the Baldwin’s sons, Jordan, suffered smoke inhalation and was transported to Samaritan Hospital, where he was treated and released. There were no other injuries and all the family pets where rescued.
The Baldwin’s other son Tyler, discovered the fire and raced to the nearby fire house, grabbed an engine and returned home and started to fight the fire himself while the alarm was being sounded. Other members of the department quickly responded and knocked the fire down in about five minutes. Grafton Fire Chief Jim Goyer praised all involved for the quick stop. He said the fire damage was contained to the upstairs bedroom area, with smoke damage on the upper floor and water damage that seeped down into the kitchen. He believes the fire was electrical in nature. Petersburgh and Eagle Mills Fire Departments also responded. Goyer said he asked for mutual aid as a backup because of the age of the structure.
Donna Baldwin is the Rensselaer County Deputy EMS coordinator, and said she was returning home from work when she heard “Grafton’s tones drop on my radio. When I heard the address, my heart just sank.” Baldwin is the former captain of the Grafton Rescue Squad. Both sons involved in the fire are also heavily involved in EMS, working with other paid and volunteer agencies.
All afternoon long members of the Grafton and county EMS community could be seen dropping by the scene to offer help and lend their support to the Baldwins, which Baldwin said was greatly appreciated.[/private]