Man found dead in Carlton fire

Deceased has not been positively identified

Photos by Tom Rivers – Firefighters work on putting out a fire on Friday afternoon at a house owned by George Swartz.

Press Release, Orleans County Sheriff Scott Hess

CARLTON – A man was found dead following a structure fire that started Friday afternoon on Route 98 in the Town of Carlton.

At about 1:40 p.m., Carlton firefighters were dispatched to 2086 Oak Orchard Rd. A Sheriff’s deputy on patrol arrived at the scene within a minute of the call and reported the two-story dwelling fully engulfed in fire.

The owner and sole resident of the home could not immediately be located and it was believed that he might be in the structure. In addition to the Carlton Fire Department, seven other fire departments from within the county were called to the scene. It was several hours before the fire was completely extinguished.

It took several hours for firefighters to put out the blaze in the two-story house.

Once the fire was completely out, a search was initiated and shortly before 10 p.m., an individual was located in the basement of the remaining structure, and pronounced dead by Orleans County Coroner Scott Schmidt.

The body was subsequently removed and transported to the Monroe County Medical Examiner’s Office in Rochester for autopsy and positive identification.

In addition to the Sheriff’s Office, the incident remains under investigation by the Orleans County Office of Emergency Management, and the NYS Office of Fire Prevention and Control. A New York State Police K-9 team assisted with the search for the deceased.

Fire Departments responding to the scene were as follows: Albion, Barre, FHM (Fancher-Hulberton-Murray), Kendall, Lyndonville, Ridgeway and Medina. Fire Departments providing station fill-ins were Elba at Barre and Shelby at Albion.

The dark smoke from the fire could be seen from several miles away.