BELGRADE – A teenage baby-sitter got two children and the family dog out of a house that was destroyed by fire Monday afternoon.
No one was harmed in the blaze, but the family lost belongings in the house they had moved into three weeks ago.
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Firefighters from Belgrade, Mount Vernon, Oakland, Rome and Smithfield contained the fire to the rear half of the house by pumping water from a nearby brook onto the flames, but soon had to call for backup when flames erupted from the second-floor window on the front of the house.
Amanda Garboski, 17, was baby-sitting Eli Tozir, 10, and Sophia Tozir, 8, for the first time.
Garboski said that around 1 p.m., smoke detectors in the home started going off, but she couldn’t see or smell smoke.
After about a half-hour of trying to turn off the detectors and remaining in contact with parents Kevin and Angelia Tozir, Garboski said she heard a popping noise coming from outside the house.
Smoke started to fill the kitchen and computer room, and Garboski opened a side door to the outside of the house, where she saw flames on the outside of the garage.
Garboski shouted for the children, and everyone ran from the house.
“She did a great job of getting them out of the house,” said Kevin Tozir.
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