Windows of the house were broken out to help fight the fire and debris is shown on the roof (upper right of photo). Photo by Donna MacKenzie
A fire which started in the kitchen and spread throughout the house killed an elderly woman in the hamlet of North Bloomfield last Thursday night (October 27).
Mary Jo Mastantone, 85, died of smoke inhalation at the scene of the fire at 1918 Route 65 at its intersection with Martin Road in the hamlet of North Bloomfield, which is in the Ontario County town of West Bloomfield. The home is located across from Route 65’s intersection with Quaker Meeting House Road. That area of North Bloomfield and part of West Bloomfield are a Fire Protection District whereby Honeoye Falls Fire Department provides protection under a contract with the town of West Bloomfield.
A person driving by noticed smoke and called 911 at 10:37 p.m. Honeoye Falls Fire Department responded to the fire with initial assistance from Mendon, Rush and East Avon Fire Departments and later Henrietta. Just before firefighters arrived, a man came out of the house and told the passerby that another person was trapped on the second floor. The passerby gave the man a flashlight and that male resident attempted to go back into the house to rescue his relative, but was turned back by the intensity of the smoke and flames.
“When we arrived, firefighters attempted to do a search for the victim, but the heat conditions made it untenable for us initially,” Honeoye Falls Fire Department Chief Paul Churnetski said via phone on Friday afternoon. “We did attack the fire from the interior and exterior. We found the victim collapsed on the second floor in the hallway by the stairs.”
Firefighters were alerted about holes in the second floor that posed a hazard during the fire and search for Mastantone. Mastantone was pronounced dead at the scene. Two cats also perished in the fire, but a third cat was found alive.
“The fire started in the kitchen but there were no working smoke detectors in the home,” Churnetski said.
Ontario County and Monroe County fire investigators were trying to determine a cause of the fire. Ontario County was the lead agency and investigators were at the scene on Friday. As of press time, the paper had not received word from investigators on a cause.
Asked how long it has been since the last fatal fire in the department’s coverage area, Churnetski said longtime Honeoye Falls fire department members indicated it had been at least 20 years.
During the fire, Scottsville Fire Department provided mutual aid fill-in help at a Rush fire station while Pittsford Fire Department provided mutual aid fill-in at Mendon’s fire hall and later Honeoye Falls’ fire hall when Henrietta’s engine truck went to the scene.
