Dead man found in burning chair in Schoharie County

PHOTOGRAPHER: David Lombardo

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A dead man was found in a chair that was on fire this afternoon in the second floor of a residence.

Late this evening, members of the New York State Office of Fire Prevention and Control were still investigating the cause and details of the fire. The fire took place on Route 443 in the hamlet of Gallupville.

Friends of the victim alerted officials to the fire a little before 4 p.m., when they saw heavy smoke coming from the second floor of the residence. Members of the Gallupville Volunteer Fire Department, the Scho-Wright Ambulance Service and the Schoharie County Sheriff’s Office responded to the scene, where they found a chair on fire on the second floor.

Mike Boomhower of the Gallupville Fire Department said the fire was quickly put out and they then discovered the dead man. He wouldn’t comment on anything else that may have been on fire but said the chair was the only thing that had to be extinguished.

Boomhower said he believed there was only one resident in the house. The victim has been identified, but his name was not being released until his next of kin can be notified.

The second floor of the house sustained smoke damage.