Fire & Home Safety

We all appreciate the fire department—but the best outcome is never needing their assistance at your home.

Many effective improvements to health and life safety come from small, often overlooked actions. Taken together, these measures significantly reduce risk and increase resilience.

We conduct a comprehensive review of your home’s current fire and life-safety plan, then provide clear, practical recommendations to strengthen prevention, response, and self-sufficiency during emergencies.

In addition, we offer on-site safety training coordinated with local medical professionals, including CPR certification (adult, child, and infant), Stop the Bleed, and other emergency-response education—tailored to your household and staff as needed.

Case Studies:

Fire Destroys 117 Tinker Street, Woodstock, NY 02.01.26

A fire that destroyed a multi-unit building on Tinker Street in Woodstock, but caused no injuries or fatalities, remains under investigation by Ulster County fire officials and state police.

The fire broke out at 117 Tinker St., with the first call coming in to the Woodstock Fire Department at 9:44 p.m. Saturday. It was reported as a “fully involved structure fire,” said Woodstock Fire Department First Assistant Chief Kevin Peters. Residents escaped safely, though two cats remain missing. Other residents of the multi-unit building were not home at the time. Fire fighters arriving on the scene found the top floor engulfed in flames with fire blowing out of windows.Firefighters were called back to the scene around 2 a.m. Sunday after a “rekindle” ignited in two areas of the building, Peters said. Crews remained on site until about 9 a.m. as temperatures dropped as low as 4 degrees. Despite the single-digit temperatures, Peters said the extreme weather did not hamper emergency response efforts from firefighters from Woodstock, Olive, West Hurley, and Glasco fire departments.

The cause of the fire was “undetermined,” Peters said, adding that there was no indication the blaze was suspicious. Chief Peters said the building is a total loss.

Family members of the owners of the fire-damaged building at 117 Tinker St. have launched a fundraising effort following the Jan. 31 blaze. 

A tenant who lived in the building also was displaced by the fire, according to officials.
The Red Cross was also aware of at least two other residents who left the scene and was working to contact them, according to Mary Alice Molgard, a disaster public affairs volunteer partner with the American Red Cross Hudson Valley.

Journalist: John W. Barry Photo credits: Roy Gumpel

3 homes destroyed by fire- Calamar Lane, Woodstock, NY 10.23.18

A fire in Woodstock engulfed and destroyed three buildings on Calamar Lane belonging to guitarist, folk artist Peter Walker. Woodstock fire fighters arrived at approximately 3:55 a.m. Tuesday, October 23, said Woodstock Fire Chief Kevin Peters. “The first one was totally engulfed when we got there,” said Peters.

“A tenant living there had a candle burning in the kitchen that got turned over…the first house caught on fire, Walker’s house, it got so hot it caught the other two houses approximately 25 feet away.” Five families were displaced from their residences.

Walker, 80, said he woke up to a “wall of fire pouring into the hallway.” He got out, just barely, and tried to run back in for his dog, but he couldn’t see through the thick smoke. “I’m yelling fire and yelling all this time for my dog. I couldn’t see anything,” Walker said. He’s lost all of his possessions and his dog, Zorro has not been seen since the fire.

“The sequence of events is bizarre,” said Walker Monday night as he was in shock. “Most of my instruments, my master tapes, my library. Gone,” said Walker, who lost three priceless guitars in the blaze. “There was nothing we could do. It was blowing out the first and second floor windows when we got there…” said Fire Chief Peters.

“The neighbor woke up and called 911…it takes ten to 12 minutes to get there. There were probably 100 firemen from different companies — Centerville, West Hurley, Olive, Sawkill, Glasco and Ulster Hose. It was good that they were there…by the time the guys got done with the initial attack, we were pretty spent…there were three fires.”

“We were there from about 3:55 a.m. and didn’t leave there until 10:30 a.m. Then they called back said there was a little more smoke, so we went back and took care of it. The town came in with an excavator…”

Journalist: Nick Henderson. Photo credits: Dion Ogust

Child runs into abandoned barbed wire fence

This one is personal- when I was around 10, I was walking the family dog through a public park, less than a mile from my home.

My mum & a friend had walked ahead, and as I went to catch up with them, I ran through the woods and straight into the last remaining single strand of a barbed wire fence.

The rest of the fence had previously been removed, except this one section between two trees, that had been overlooked.

It caught me straight across my mouth, severing my upper lip in multiple areas.

Thankfully we were in close proximity to a residential area, and knocked on an unsuspecting door. Dish cloths were used to staunch the flow of blood as we waited for an ambulance.

I required around 150 stitches to my mouth, both inside & out, and was very grateful there was a talented plastic surgeon available that day.

Two inches higher and it would have caught my eyes. Two inches lower and it would have caught my throat. Life could have been very different.

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Its worth noting, throughout the Hudson Valley, there are thousands of miles of old stone walls, built and used by Indigenous peoples, and later farmers.

Around the turn of the century, as farmers moved from agriculture to livestock, barbed wire was used above stone walls, to keep the herds in place.

As you can imagine, I loathe this material, and have personally removed truck loads of abandoned barbed wire fences, from private land and state parks.