SHERBURNE – A Sherburne couple awoke at just after 3 a.m. Saturday as their bedroom filled with smoke and their home burned.
Jane Mondore, speaking for the family Monday, said her older brother Charles Wilcox and his wife Lisa were the only two occupants in the trailer and escaped through an emergency window.
As the fire continued to burn through nearly all their worldly possessions, Charles went back in with a garden hose in an attempt to save what he could.
When firemen arrived, they treated Lisa for minor smoke inhalation, but Charles Wilcox suffered more severe smoke related injuries and was taken to Community Memorial Hospital in Hamilton. Later Saturday, he was transferred to the intensive care unit at Mary Imogene Bassett Hospital in Cooperstown, where he remained in stable condition as of Monday night, explained his sister.
Mondore also said doctors are optimistic that Charles, who is in his mid 70s, could be released as early as Tuesday evening.
“If they did not have working smoke alarms, this would have been much worse. They were asleep and awoke to alarms,” said Sherburne Fire Chief Patrick Lawrence, adding the fire quickly spread.
Lawrence said the couple ran from their residence and called 911 at around 3:20 a.m. The home was located just outside the Village of Sherburne at 1101 County Road 23, near the intersection of Rt. 80.
“Our first engine was out in four minutes and had less than one mile to travel, but found heavy fire involvement to most of the structures,” he said.
Mondore said at first her sister-in-law awoke to an electronic beeping sound and thought maybe a cell phone alarm was going off in another room. She got up to open the bedroom door and smoke poured in.
Charles was quickly roused and in a haze of smoke, the couple opened the safety escape window in the bedroom before climbing out. Charles then went to try and slow the fire while Lisa ran next door to call 911, said Mondore.
“He pulled away the cars and the tractor from the fire and went back inside the house to fight it with the garden hose,” said Mondore.
When crews arrived at the scene, Mondore said her brother was so overcome with smoke he was forced to rest on the ground in coughing fits as firemen began fighting the fire. He would eventually be transported to the hospital by Sherburne EMS and placed on a ventilator, she said.
She also reported the family lost nearly all their possessions in the blaze and did not have insurance to cover the damage.
Sherburne was assisted at the scene by the North Norwich and Smyrna Fire Departments while Earlville was placed on stand at their station.
Crews stayed on scene for about four hours and an investigation into the fire’s cause and origin is underway.
“At this time we’re still investigating, but it appears to be accidental in nature,” said Lawrence.
Mondore said the couple was retired and were the only two living at the home, apart from several pet cats and kittens.
Lawrence reported that many of the animals escaped the fire, but an unknown number were missing.
The fire chief stressed the importance of installing smoke alarms and checking their batteries at least twice a year. “What we tell people is every time you set the clocks, back or forward, make sure to change the alarms’ batteries,” he said.
The American Red Cross was contacted by officials following the fire and is working with providing support to the family. Mondore said representatives had offered a $400 emergency spending card and would meet with them after Charles was released from the hospital. She said Charles was a frequent golfer and friends at the Mountain Top Golf Course in Sherburne had also collected $1,400 in donations for the family.
Mondore said her family originated from the New Berlin area and the couple would be staying with relatives in Edmeston.