7 HOMELESS

AS 60 BATTLE

ROUTE 28 FIRE

Firefighter Derek West, in top photo, pours water on the remains of 4703 Route 28, Hartwick Seminary, from atop a Milford Volunteer Fire Department engine, assisted by his dad Damon and Wade Thayer.  Hartwick #2 Fire Chief David Bryant, the officer in charge at the scene, walks by the apparatus.  The fire was reported at 3:30 a.m. today, and more than a half-dozen departments responded, Bryant said.  Seven people were living in the home; no one is injured, and the Red Cross assisted the family, not yet officially identified, to find temporary lodging, he said.   The home, earlier photo inset, located directly across Route 28 from NBT Bank’s Cooperstown Commons’ office, was a total ruin.  In addition to Hartwick #2 and Milford, responding departments included Hartwick #1 from the hamlet, Cooperstown, Fly Creek and Mount Vision.  Schuyler Lake sent a pumper to assist.  Bryant, who estimated 60 firefighters were at the scene at the peak, said this fire is the worst his department has dealt with since the Milford United Methodist Church burned on March 12, 2016.   (Jim Kevlin/AllOTSEGO.com)