Fire Sends 5 Firefighters to Bassett Hospital

Five firefighters, three from the Cooperstown Volunteer Fire Department, were transported Wednesday evening to Bassett Hospital after a raging garage fire that began in the hamlet of Middlefield shortly before 9 p.m. set off an explosion, perhaps a propane tank, inside the wooden structure. The extent of their injuries was not immediately known. In the top photo, the county’s assistant emergency coordinator, Victor Jones, monitors firefighting efforts at close quarters.  Volunteers oversaw portable water tanks, filled from nearby Cherry Valley Creek. C.R. Jones, the retired NYSHA conservator, was at the scene, and said the garage is his. Some 15-20 fire trucks and emergency vehicles were at the scene, from Cooperstown, Milford, Middlefield and numerous other departments.

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