When a smoke alarm sounds, it’s imperative to “get out and stay out,” Esopus Fire Chief William Freer said Thursday.
Freer, who has been fighting fires for 20 years and works as a fire-prevention specialist for the state Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Services in Poughkeepsie, said a deadly blaze in Esopus on Tuesday was the “second fatal fire in our district that I’ve had to go through.”
More often than not, he said, people who die in fires hesitate before leaving, go back inside to retrieve property, fail to maintain smoke alarms or haven’t planned two safe escape routes.
According to the Ulster County Sheriff’s Office, the man who died in the early morning house fire Tuesday at 719 Old Post Road remained in the structure to retrieve items after the smoke alarm went off.