A 56 year-old woman and her pets perished in a house fire in the Town of Mount Hope in western Orange County early Tuesday morning.
At approximately 1:22 am on Tuesday, the Howells Fire Department was dispatched to a reported house fire with entrapment at 2 Robbins Road in the Town of Mount Hope. Firefighters arrived and found fire and heavy smoke in the rear of the house, which was a separate apartment attached to the main building.
Firefighters entered the burning house and began an interior fire attack. They extinguished the heaviest part of the fire and located a female victim in a rear hallway. She was reportedly unresponsive.
The victim, who was later identified as Shaun Lee Schiffinger, age 56, had succumbed to the smoke and the fire. She had lived in the apartment in the rear of the building. Her pets also passed away.
The fire remains under investigation by the Orange County Fire Investigators Office, the New York State Police, and the Orange County Medical Examiners Office.
The Howells Fire Department was assisted by the Middletown, Mechanicstown, Slate Hill, New Hampton, Pocatello, Washington Heights, Circleville, Otisville, Bloomingburg, Bullville, and Silver Lake Fire Departments.
