According to a Ghent resident dining at Kozel’s, a number of his fellow patrons dashed off from their suppers to respond to a fire at Love Apple Farm, just a mile or so north of the restaurant on Route 9H. Love Apple was reportedly sold by the Loken family in the past year to Francis Greenburger, the Time Equities magnate and founder of Art Omi.
As previously reported here in 2012, the Route 9H corridor north of the intersection with 66 has been the locus of an unusual number of fires in recent years. These have included the structure fires at Meadowgreens, the razing of Amanda’s Fireplace, and of course the two fires at TCI of NY (the second one truly catastrophic). A follow-up report in 2013 noted several other fires in the vicinity, not far from 9H.
Besides the obvious question of why so many fires are clustered in this neighborhood, the next question is why nearly all of the structures were total losses. Most fires in our area do not result in complete devastation of the home or building, but these fires are hugely destructive.
UPDATE: The fire is getting attention from all of the area’s major media. Video clips and photos of the blaze can be be found at: WRGB | WTEN | WNYT | Times-Union | YNN
