CARMEL- A Carmel Police Officer and his wife escaped their burning home Friday night with only the clothing on their backs when fire enveloped their wood-frame dwelling off Seminary Hill Road in Carmel.
Nine-one-one calls sent Carmel Fire Department personnel to the officer’s residence around 9 p.m. and when Carmel Police and initial fire department units arrived and found a working fire, mutual aid was summoned from departments throughout Putnam and Westchester including the Mahopac, Brewster, Lake Carmel, Kent, Patterson, Croton Falls, and Yorktown Departments in addition to the Carmel Volunteer Ambulance Corps, Bureau of Emergency Services, and an Empress Paramedic.
The neighborhood where the fire broke is not serviced by a municipal water supply. As a result tanker trucks from neighboring departments brought water to the scene which hampered the fire fight in addition to near zero temperatures resulting in frozen hoses and extremely slippery conditions.
It wasn’t until early Saturday that firefighters cleared the scene and returned to quarters.
Members of the Putnam County Fire Investigation Team determined the cause of the blaze was accidental that centered in the chimney of the residence.
No injuries were reported.
In the interim, the Carmel PBA has organized a GoFundMe page to assist the officer and his family with thousands of dollars collected in its early stages.
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