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 late taken to the hospital for smoke inhalation.
New Hackensack firefighters and the Village of Fishkill assistance 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.
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