Residents survived East Berne fire but ‘lost everything’
— Still frame from video taken by Kevin Crosier
The home at 370 Long Road in East Berne was totally engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived on the scene Sunday. The teenager who was home at the time escaped with his dog who had alerted him to the fire. The family’s two cats died.
EAST BERNE — A fire destroyed a home at 370 Long Road in East Berne Sunday afternoon and, while no one was hurt, the material damage was total. The home was rented by a mother and her son.
“They lost everything,” said Barbara Kennedy, a Berne resident who started accepting donations of food, clothing, furniture, and money on their behalf. “All their possessions, money. It’s all gone.”
Two cats perished in the fire, but a dog survived. The family’s dog had alerted the son, who was home alone and playing video games with a headset.
Donations may be made to account number 0865 at any KeyBank, Kennedy said, and material items may be dropped off at 49 Main Street, East Berne, where Kennedy lives.
“He’s a good kid,” she said of the teen, a 19-year old, whom she described as tall and thin as she listed his clothing sizes.
He wears a size 11-and-a half shoe, a 30/34 pant, and small and medium shirts. The mother wears 2XL shirts and XL leggings, Kennedy said.
Kevin Crosier, the town’s former supervisor and a former firefighter for the city of Albany, witnessed and recorded the disaster, having arrived from his home nearby where he had heard the dispatch on his scanner.
“I got there before the fire trucks and the whole front was engulfed,” Crosier said.
He added that the firefighters on the scene were able to “put a stop to a lot of it in a hurry,” but that the house was too far gone.
The remaining structure is scheduled to be condemned by the town on Jan. 14.
