The cause of the fire is undetermined and under investigation. (photo”
NHFD Photo Unit)
WAPPINGER – A fire that raced through a home at 26 Relyea Terrace
in the Town of Wappinger on Friday morning claimed the life of a seven-year-old
boy.
The child, who was identified as Sean Burlingame, was pronounced dead
at Vassar Brothers Medical Center.
State Police and firefighters from the New Hackensack Fire Department
were called to the blaze at 5:22 a.m. Troopers were informed upon arrival
that there may have still been a child inside. Five other people in the
house escaped prior to emergency personnel arriving.
Troopers, without protective gear, went inside but were unable to locate
the child because of extensive fire and smoke. One trooper was taken to
the hospital for smoke inhalation.
New Hackensack firefighters and the Village of Fishkill assistant fire
chief, wearing fire gear, were able to get inside from a ladder to a bedroom
window. They crawled around the floor and located the child unconscious.
The cause of the fire is unknown and remains under investigation by the
state and Dutchess County fire investigators in conjunction with State
Police investigators.
Personnel at the scene were from fire departments in New Hackensack, Village
of Fishkill, Hughsonville, and East Fishkill, the Dutchess County Sheriff’s
Office, EMStar ambulance, State Homeland Security and Emergency Services
Cause and Origin Team, Dutchess County Fire Investigation Division and
Central Hudson Gas and Electric.
