KERHONKSON – Sirens wailed throughout the day on Friday, November 20, as fire companies from around the region responded first to an emergency call of a major structure fire on Samsonville Road in Kerhonkson, and then to an arson behind D&M Furniture on the corner of Canal Street and Maiden Lane.

The blaze just down the road from Rochester Town Hall in Kerhonkson began when a home-brewed biodiesel manufacturing operation being conducted in the basement of the house exploded.

"Apparently there was an explosion, so whatever he was cooking in the basement, how he was cooking it, exploded," said Accord Fire Chief William Farrell the Monday following the fire. "That's what started the fire spreading so rapidly. It's still being looked at by ATF [Arson Task Force]."

Once they arrived on the scene and learned of the situation, firefighters were confronted with a two-pronged problem. On one hand, they were prevented from using too much water to combat the blaze because of concerns over the oil-contaminated water flowing into the creek running behind the house; on the other hand, the oil itself only gave further fuel to the flames, causing more destruction to the structure and threatening nearby homes. A trench had to be dug behind the house to keep the oil away from the creek, but the house was considered a total loss and was razed by an excavator to keep the flames from rekindling.

The owner of the house, Fernando Valencia, was ticketed by the Department of Environmental Conservation, or DEC, for the biodiesel operation in the basement of his house.

According to Valencia, when he returned home from work that morning to pick up a few things he'd forgotten, he saw the fire and called for two tenants who rented the back portion of his home to get out. Valencia also lived in the house.

According to Chief William Farrell, the fire companies that responded to the scene hailed from Stone Ridge, Kerhonkson, Kripplebush, High Falls, olive, Rosendale, Cottekill, and Napanoch.

That same day in Ellenville, two minors and one adult were arrested after a small fire was set at the rear of the vacant D&M Furniture building on the corner of Maiden Lane and Canal Street. Ellenville Police Chief Phil Mattracion said that the department received a report of three people involved with a fire being set at the building. As it happened, a New York State Trooper Investigator was driving in the area and saw two people who matched the description. When the two were picked up, Mattracion said that one "reeked of gasoline."

The two were questioned, one confessed to the arson, and based on the investigation the police were able to locate and arrest the third person involved in the affair. Arrested were a 14 year old female and a 16 year old male, both receiving fourth degree charges of felony arson. The third was 19 year old Danina Massey of Park Street, who was charged with misdemeanor obstructing governmental administration in the second degree, and was released on an appearance ticket. Mattracion explained that the obstruction charge is made when someone hinders the police's investigation.

"It was determined through the investigation that they had come in contact with a small bottle of gasoline and were playing with a lighter," said Mattracion of the incident. "It ignited and they got scared and threw the bottle up against the building causing it to flame up against the wall and the wood on the building." He said that the resultant damage was minor, leaving "burn marks on the side of the wall."