At grass fire, firefighter saved from nasty death

A Depauville Fire Department recruit saved a six-year veteran from a messy death during one of several grass fires to hit the region in the past two days.

While fighting the grass fire Friday on the Kevin Forkey farm on Route 12 in Clayton, the veteran firefighter, Ernest D. Ross, saw the flames heading toward a boat storage building. He and a few others moved toward the building. He said he chose to cut across a field, when he fell into an unmarked manure pit.

"It was all covered with straw, so it looked like the field," he said. "I called out 'No bottom!'"

Mr. Ross said Kevin Zoll, a recent recruit, crawled to the edge of the pit, reached out with a broom handle and pulled Mr. Ross in.

"His quick response literally saved my life," Mr. Ross said. "In a couple of minutes, I'd have been completely under manure."

He was taken to Samaritan Medical Center by the Thousand Islands Emergency Rescue Service. He said many muscles on his left side were pulled, but he's happy to be alive.

The Clayton grass fire Friday called out seven companies and lasted four hours.

Dry and windy conditions led to multiple calls about grass fires in the north country again Saturday. Lewis County enacted an open-burning ban Saturday afternoon that will last for five days. Jefferson County continues to have a warning against unnecessary burning.

In St. Lawrence County, which put a ban into effect Thursday, two 15-year-old girls were taken to Claxton-Hepburn Medical Center, Ogdensburg, with minor burns after a grass fire on Route 6 in Morristown. State police said the fire began about 4 p.m. and the teenagers were taken to the hospital because their parents were not at home.

The fire reportedly began when the two were playing with a lighter outside and some brush or grass ignited.

The following St. Lawrence County residents have been charged with violating the countywide ban on open burning:

■ Paul Fantone, 43, of 248 Douglas Road, Norwood, was charged Saturday by St. Lawrence County sheriff's deputies.

■ Dwayne L. Martin, 60, Gouverneur, was charged Friday by state police.

Times staff writer David Winters contributed to this report.