Mike Forster Rothbart
The Daily Star, Oneonta, N.Y.
（MCT）
Feb. 15—A Gilbertsville woman died in a house fire at 22 Maple St., in the center of the village, on Monday morning, Feb. 14.
在媒体发布中，Otsego County紧急服务部将该女子确定为64岁的Louise“ Lucinda” Dubben。
The fire was reported at 9:15 a.m. The Gilbertsville Volunteer Fire Department arrived to find an active blaze at the rear of the house. Five other fire departments responded to a request for mutual aid.
“It actually started in the backside of the house, I guess, from reports,” Gilbertsville Fire Chief David Johnson said. “It went from the backside of the kitchen into the hallway and then caught the main structure.” It burned right through into the attic, he said.
A neighbor said Dubben, who lived at the home, moved back several years ago, after her parents had died. The Otsego County assessor lists the home as belonging to Ralph and Louise Dubben. Ralph Dubben died in 2019, and his wife in 2012, according to their obituaries published in The Daily Star.
“Everyone knew her. I’ve known her forever, her daughters went to school with me,” said the neighbor, who asked not to be identified. “She grew up here, I think she lived here her whole life.”
Six hours after the fire started, there was still intermittent smoke visible as two Sidney firefighters in a bucket lift put out the last hot spots. The rear external wall had been blackened all the way up, the roof split open perpendicular to the peak, rows of green shingles dangling over the eaves. The one-story kitchen addition at the back of the house appeared fully burnt out. In the back yard, a wooden beam still smoldered in the snow beneath trees coated with ice from fire hose spray.
Gilbertsville, Morris, Mount Upton, Otego, Sidney and Wells Bridge fire departments and Otsego County EMS responded to the scene, with West Laurens and West Oneonta fire departments on standby, according to the media release
The source of the fire was not yet known, and an investigation is be led by Otsego Office of Emergency Services, New York State Office of Fire Prevention and Control and the New York State Police.
“If you look around, we’re not seeing as much snowfall in the last couple of years. So a lot of these homes don’t have that extra layer of insulation,” said Victor Jones, emergency services coordinator for Otsego County, while on the scene. “It forces folks to utilize additional sources of heat. Or even work what they currently are using that much harder as a result of the colder temperatures.”
Jones said that “all of the departments in Otsego County, with the exception of the city of Oneonta, are all volunteer,” and that the average age of volunteers keeps getting older.
在桶式升降机上一个小时后，西德尼消防员凯文·麦达隆（Kevin Maddalone）和小上尉小的小阁楼（Greg Peck Jr.西德尼部门带着其85英尺的梯子卡车进来，露出了吉尔伯茨维尔卡车无法到达的一些燃烧地点，因为该建筑物被认为是不安全的进入的。
“I’ve been in the department for 35 years,” said Sidney Fire Chief Greg Peck Sr., father of Capt. Peck. “Maddalone’s been doing this for 40 years. We love serving our communities. We do what we can, but we need more volunteers. Not just us but every department around us.”
Mike Forster Rothbart, staff writer, can be reached atmforsterrothbart@thedailystar.com或607-441-7213。
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