Fire accident injures Washington resident

WASHINGTON — Matthew Rochfort was seriously injured in a bonfire accident Saturday, June 18. Rochfort attempted to light a pile of wood that had been unknowingly doused with gasoline. When he lit the wood, it exploded. The incident occurred at his residence in the town of Washington. Emergency personnel were called to the scene and he was air-lifted to Westchester Medical Hospital. He is expected to stay in the hospital for about a week as he suffered from third-degree burns on his arms and hands with first-degree burns on his face, according to Deputy Mayor Stan Morse, who was notified by Mayor Laura Hurley about the accident. Morse said at this point, Rochfort is conscious and able to breathe on his own.“This fire event was a tragic mistake — it was an accident,” Morse said. “I think he exercised a lot of caution, but when you are dealing with flammables and accelerants like gasoline sometimes things do go wrong and that’s what happened. It’s very unfortunate.”A few weeks ago the Rochfort family suffered another tragedy. Matt Rochfort’s brother, Edward, was electrocuted and killed on June 2, after stepping on live wires while trying to put out a brush fire on the side of a road in Amenia.“The tragedy is that Matt just lost one of his brothers a couple of weeks ago. That was the young man who was electrocuted on Route 44 in Amenia. That was one of Matt’s older brothers.” Matthew Rochfort is one of 10 children who reside in the town of Washington area, said Morse.“Matt was about 10 years old when he started at the Marona’s Market; he is a fixture in Millbrook,” Morse said. “He works as the store manger now. He also worked himself up and became a volunteer at the fire department early on; he was the fire chief and then got elected as the president. He does a fine job for this community. We all love Matt and wish him well.”