13 Fire Companies Respond To Blaze
by Bea Peterson
The home of Jim and Michele Bettis of Cobble Hill Road was fully engulfed when firefighters arrived shortly after three Wednesday morning. The parents and their two children, one wheelchair bound, escaped safely.
North Hoosick Fire Chief Alan Bornt said it was necessary to call in all the companies. “We needed a lot of tankers as there is no water up there,” he said. Companies from Buskirk, Hoosick, Hoosick Falls, West Hoosick, White Creek, Johnsonville, Pittstown, Cambridge, North Bennington, Shaftsbury, Bennington Rural and Bennington Village responded.
The fire is believed to have started in the chimney of a wood stove in the cellar. “The fire quickly spread from the chimney up the outside of the house, then caught the roof on fire,” said Bornt. The structure appears to be a total loss. Bornt said they had the fire knocked down in the first couple of hours, but they were on site until 8 am.
