Fire And Ice: Inferno Tears Through Mansion On Coldest Night

SCARSDALE, N.Y. (WCBS 880) – A family managed to escape as bright flames tore through a stately Tudor home in Westchester on the coldest night of the season so far.

Icicles hung from the helmets and bunker coats of firefighters as they aimed their hoses at the burning house on Mamaroneck Road Sunday night.

Fire Chief James Seymour says it was a brutal fight to get through.

“If you shut down your hose line completely, within one or two minutes it'll freeze,” Seymor said, adding that at least one hydrant was broken and another froze.

“Just trying to maneuver around, slipping and falling,” he said. “Once that cold sets in, you can only stay warm for so long. I mean, once it sets in it really, you know, it really beats up our firefighters pretty good.”

The family escaped into the bitter cold around 1 a.m.

A few firefighters went to a hospital as a precaution.

No serious injuries were reported, but temperatures were hovering near zero and overexertion, frostbite and hypothermia were serious threats.