KENT – A rapid response on Labor Day averted a major calamity when fire damaged the Shulman estate on Route 52 in Kent, assessed at $2.5 million.
Smoke alarms alerted authorities and when Kent Police arrived and confirmed a working structure fire calls went out for the Lake Carmel Fire Department.
Assistant Chief Robert Benson, the incident commander, immediately requested mutual aid from the Carmel, Patterson, Brewster, Mahopac and East Fishkill fire departments. Mahopac Falls and Putnam Lake firefighters covered for the initially dispatched agencies.
Benson said responders made an “aggressive attack” that saved the wood-frame structure, which housed second-floor apartments and a ground-floor garage containing valuable antique cars.
A Carmel firefighter suffered a broken ankle after falling from a ladder and was taken by ambulance to Danbury Hospital for treatment.
Sadly, two pet cats perished in the inferno.
Additional assistance came from Putnam Battalion Coordinator George Wahlers, Kent EMS Corps members, the Carmel Volunteer Ambulance Corps, an Empress Putnam paramedic, members of the Sheriff’s Department, Putnam Fire Investigation Team, Putnam Bureau of Emergency Services and New York State Electric and Gas Company crews.
Responders were on the scene for more than six hours.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
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