A Famous Upstate NY Farm Goes Up In Smoke

It is sad to see a well known stopover across the border that has been serving the community for over a century has now become obsolete as an investigation continues into the cause of a massive fire that took place in neighboring Columbia county.

WRGB-TV reports the blaze occurred at Samascott Orchards in Kinderhook, New York. Several fire departments immediately responded to the scene as they battled flames with frigid temperatures for over three hours. Crews used upwards of 500,000 gallons of water when putting out the complicated blaze. No injuries were reported.

Due to safety concerns, the barn is scheduled to be demolished. The clean up process began on Wednesday as crews put out hot spots. The Register Star reports the blaze was first reported at 7:12 p.m. on Tuesday evening as firefighters were on the scene within 10 minutes, according to a Kinderhook Fire Company (Palmer Engine & Hose Company # 1) Facebook post.

A report from The Kinderhook Fire Department also indicated this was a tough situation for those dispatched to put out the flames:

“There were many challenges fighting the fire including outside temperatures, explosions from propane, kerosene and ammonia,” according to the fire company. “The embers from the fire also started multiple fires in the area which were extinguished.”

Fire departments from Chatham, Stottville, Stockport and others responded to the scene as firefighting tankers were called in to battle the inferno as the municipal water system struggled by keeping up with the water demand for extinguishing the fire.

Samascott Farms issued a statement thanking everyone for their efforts:

"We lost our main barn tonight. So thankful everyone is safe," Samascott Orchards wrote. "We can’t thank all the firefighters enough who have been working for hours to put out this massive fire, and are still hard at work right now. We won’t be at any markets this week and will update you all as soon as we can,"

Samascott's Garden Market at 65 Chatham St was NOT affected by the fire and will remain open with normal business hours.

The fire is currently being investigated by the state Office of Fire Prevention and Control.

(Some information obtained in this article courtesy of WRGB-TV https://cbs6albany.com/news/local/kinderhook-mourns-staple-lost-as-investigators-seek-cause-of-devastating-barn-fire-samascott-orchard-new-york#and The Register Star newspaper https://www.dailygazette.com/hv360/news/samascott-orchard-fire/article_f25da068-cd6f-11ef-98b3-4b3e08262aef.html)

(Featured image courtesy of Maxim Petrichuk)