BULLVILLE – An explosion and fire off Route 17K in the Bullville section of the Town of Crawford late Thursday night shook neighbors’ homes and badly burned one person.
The blaze at United Orchids, an exotic flower greenhouse operation, resulted in one person sustaining severe burns, according to Bullville Fire Chief Bill Bacon. That victim was transported to Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla.
The four-alarm fire spread quickly through a greenhouse and nursery as more than a dozen fire departments from Orange and Ulster counties battled the flames that lit up the nighttime sky.
It was well past midnight when the fire was brought under control.
The chief said the state Department of Environmental Conservation was called to the scene due to a large spill of fertilizer, but he said no waterways were contaminated.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
