Flames claim life at historic home

ALEXANDER, N.Y. (WIVB) - A favor for a friend cost a Genesee County man his life. A house that burned down was historic, it was built in the Town of Alexander in the 1830s. The man who died was there house sitting for a friend who was in the hospital.

When Grant Whitmore heard the cottage down the road was on fire, he knew he had to act.
Whitmore said, “I knew Scott was in there, unless he was outside. So I ran down here and grabbed the fire extinguisher and tried to knock down some of the flames. But the flames were coming out the front corner and out the front door.”

The fire already too big for Whitmore to extinguish himself, but he was desperate because he knew Scott Cramer was inside house sitting for a hospitalized friend.

Whitmore said, “I couldn't get anything from the front door so I hoped he had gone to the back. There was a screen in the window. I was hollering in there, but we didn't hear anybody.”

When firefighters made it inside, they found 47-year-old Cramer lying just 15 feet from the front door. The house was an old school house, the Cobblestone Number 6 School, built in the late 1830s.

Firefighters had to be careful when fighting it to avoid becoming trapped. Genesee County Fire Coordinator Tim Yaeger said, “The fire was at the only entrance. So they had to knock down the fire to even get into the home itself. So once they were able to knock that down, there was some debris, TVs and stuff stored above where the fire was. So they were concerned about their safety being trapped in there.”

They rushed the victim to UMMC, where he died. This is the same hospital where the homeowner was staying.