Clarkstown Cop, Town Councilman Rescue Two Elderly Residents From Bardonia Home Destroyed by Fire

A Clarkstown Town Board member and a Clarkstown police officer rescued two elderly people — including a man suffering from blindness — from a burning Bardonia home that was soon destroyed by the fire Monday afternoon.

The same home was the scene of a fire in 1978, when four volunteer firefighters rescued a baby who later died because of injuries from that blaze, according to fire officials.

Clarkstown Councilman Goerge Hoehmann, a Nanuet Republican, and Police Officer Kevin Shannon were nearby when smoke could be seen pouring Monday from the home at 100 Ludvigh Road, just west of a Palisades Interstate Parkway overpass. Hoehmann and Shannon went to the house and heard cries from two people in the house and they were able to rescue them from a rear door. Flame and smoke from the fire were so intense that another Clarkstown police officer, Brian Quinn, who was looking for residents of the home, could not get into the house through the front door, according to police.

Hoehmann said several other people who were nearby at the time of the fire also assisted in the effort to find out if there was anyone left in the burning home, a two-story wood structure set back behind another home on Ludvigh Road. That neighboring home and other nearby homes were not damaged by the fire.

The fire had engulfed the 100 Ludvigh Road house by the time volunteers of the Nanuet Fire Department could get there a few minutes after the 12:50 p.m. report of a fire. The cause of the fire is uncertain and is still under investigation, according to Clarkstown Fire Inspector Stephen Ungerleider.
Fire officials were also trying to determine whether the home had working smoke detectors.

Clarkstown police said Anthony Casali, who is listed on town records as the owner of the home, and Jeanette Willard were rescued from the home and taken to Nyack Hospital for treatment. Police officer Shannon was also taken to Nyack Hospital for treatment of smoke inhalation.

By late afternoon Monday, Clarkstown Police Chief Peter Noonan said Shannon was still at Nyack Hospital undergoing tests, athough he was reported to be in good condition. Hoehmann was treated at the scene of the fire and given oxygen as a precaution, but he was not taken to the hospital. Officials said Casali and Willard are also in good condition at the hospital.

About 60 volunteer firefighters battled the blaze which kept Ludvigh Road closed until about 3 p.m., according to Nanuet Fire Chief A.J. Knapp.

At the right place

Hoehmann, a 45-year-old financial consultant, said he was on his way to a business meeting when he saw the fire and stopped to investigate. Hoehmann said he was the first one there, with Shannon arriving moments later. Noonan said Shannon, who is one of the town's DARE officers, was out on a trip to Bardonia Elementary School when he came upon the fire.

"It was a case of being in the right place at the right time," said Hoehmann after he was checked out by emergency medical personnel at the scene of the fire.

Hoehmann said that when he arrived at the house he went to the front door but could not get in more than a few steps because of flames and smoke. However, he said he could hear the homeowner and told him to go out through the rear of the house.

Hoehman said he and Shannon went around to the back of the home and discovered Casali and Willard at a set of glass doors leading to a deck. Casali was just inside the door, while Willard had stepped onto the deck. Hoehman said he went onto the deck, moved aside the walker that Willard was using and carried her down the steps of the deck.

"I put her in sort of a bear hug and carried her," Hoehmann said. When he got Willard away from the house, Hoehmann said he turned back to check with Shannon but billowing smoke from the fire obscured Shannon from view. Then Shannon came out of the house with Casali, Hoehmann said.
During the rescue, Hoehmann said flames were breaking out the windows of the home and that he could hear small explosions coming from within the house. Flames from the fire could be seen for several blocks and smoke reached busy Route 304, where Clarkstown police had blocked access to Ludvigh Road. Smoke rising from the fire could be seen for several miles.

Quick action

Knapp, who just recently took office as Nanuet fire chief, said the fast action of the first two teams of volunteer firefighters to arrive at the scene of the fire played a key role in battling the blaze. He said firefighters Mike Mattera, Mike Kubasek and Dan Maloney, using water from a Nanuet pumper, were able to put out fire that had engulfed the stairs inside the home. This action, Knapp said, allowed other firefighters to have access to the house and battle the blaze. Knapp also said Nanuet firefighters Denise Schoenleber and Brian O'Toole came in with another hose line to knock down fire on the a ceiling in the home. "They really did a good job," Knapp said of the five volunteers. In battling the blaze, firefighters pulled two oxygen tanks from the house. Knapp said volunteers from fire departments in New City, Pearl River, West Nyack and Spring Valley assisted at the scene of the fire, with volunteers from South Spring Valley on standby in case of other emergencies.

Volunteer from the Nanuet Ambulance Corps and members of Rockland Paramedics also assisted at the scene of the fire.

Painful memories

For some at the scene of Monday's fire, the blaze brought back painful memories from a 1978 fire at the same home, where a baby died as a result of the fire. "The memories just popped being there today," said George C. Drescher, a longtime volunteer firefighter who is one of Rockland County's deputy fire coordinators. Drescher was among four first responders who went into 100 Ludvigh Road in 1978 to rescue a baby. The child was pulled from the fire alive, but died several days later.
Drescher said the home's owner is a member of the same family that owned the home at the time of the fatal fire.