Man dies in Knowlesville fire
2 others injured in blaze that destroyed home on Presbyterian Street
Photos by Tom Rivers
KNOWLESVILLE – An elderly man who is confined to a wheelchair died in a fire tonight on presbyterian Road in Knowlesville.
Firefighters were dispatched to 12625 Presbyterian St. just before 8:30 p.m. They arrived to a fire with flames shooting out windows and the porch.
A neighbor across street tried to rescue the wheel-bound man from the house, but the neighbor, a man in his 60s, ran out of the house with his clothes on fire. He was taken by a Mercy EMS ambulance to a Mercy Flight helicopter zone at the fairgrounds. He has serious burns, Orleans County Sheriff Chris Bourke said.
The son of the man who perished in the fire also was injured and taken by ambulance to Strong Memorial Hospital.
Fire investigators from Orleans County and the state will try to determine the cause of the fire.
Firefighters from several departments responded to the scene. This photo shows the Shelby ladder truck. That truck used water pulled from the Erie Canal to keep a steady flow of water pouring on the fire.
The resident of the house was often spotted along the road in a motorized wheelchair, neighbor said. His dog, a husky, got out of the house safely and was located by an Orleans County animal control officer.
Ridgeway firefighters were assisted at the scene by the Medina Fire Department, Albion Joint Fire District, Shelby Volunteer Fire Company, East Shelby Volunteer Fire Company, Lyndonville Fire Department Medina Fire Department ambulance, and Mercy EMS.
Other departments filled in for several of the responding departments. Those filling in included Middleport, Hartland, Oakfield-Alabama, Batavia and Tri-Town Ambulance.
Gary Watts of the Shelby Volunteer Fire Company uses a Shelby pumper to pull water from the Erie Canal and then send it through a 5-inch hose about 1,400 to the Shelby ladder truck, which sprayed the water onto the house.
The fire proved difficult to put out. Firefighters were still battling hot spots two hours after the fire tore through the house. Watts said he expected it would be an all-nighter for many of the firefighters.
