Erin Garcia, 25, escaped the Oct. 16 fire on White Birch Lane with two cats and a work bag. Their apartment and car burned. Now staying with relatives in New Jersey, Garcia is trying to replace the basics.

“My biggest current concern would be financial,” Garcia, who uses they/them pronouns, said in an email. “But my family has been very supportive and has taken me to get a few basics such as clothes and toiletries.”

The early-morning fire at 4 White Birch Lane, which has a Mount Tremper mailing address but is within the town of Woodstock, killed one resident of the 15-unit building and sent two others to a hospital, according to the Woodstock Fire Department. Two firefighters sustained minor injuries. The Red Cross provided financial assistance to five displaced adults from four households.

The person who died hasn’t been publicly identified. Woodstock Fire Inspector Alan Harmon didn’t provide information about the fire’s cause or when the building was last inspected. Woodstock Supervisor Anula Courtis said Harmon thought the last inspection was in 2021 but needed to check the records.

New York regulations require fire-safety and property-maintenance inspections of multiple dwellings at least once every three years. If town records confirm that the last inspection was in 2021, the interval would exceed that requirement.

Garcia, a certified recovery peer advocate at Mountain Top Cares Coalition in Haines Falls, woke around 5:15 a.m. to the smell of smoke and faint beeping that they thought might have come from a few apartments away. From bed, they could see a bright light outside their window.

“I have cats so I put them in the bathroom to grab their carriers,” Garcia said.

They called police at 5:26 a.m., they said. A next-door neighbor knocked and told them about the fire. Garcia escaped with their cats and work bag, then knocked on neighbors’ doors on the right side of the building. By then, their car and apartment were engulfed in flames, they said.

The Woodstock Fire Department said it was dispatched at 5:23 a.m. Firefighters from 10 neighboring departments, including Olive, West Hurley, Centerville, and Phoenicia, helped respond.

Across Wittenberg Road, Julian Lines, a trustee and 40-year resident of the Matagiri yoga center, watched flames reach as high as the treetops. His son, Alexander, had gone out for coffee and called 911 after seeing the fire, Lines said. Father and son returned the next day to help a resident search for cats and found one hiding under a bed.

The center of the building was reduced to rubble, and three cars parked behind it were scorched. Concrete walls helped prevent the flames from spreading to apartments at either end, Woodstock Fire Chief Tim Pettet said.

“The firewalls on the sides did their job,” he said.

One resident was taken to HealthAlliance Hospital in Kingston for smoke inhalation, Pettet said. Another, who showed signs of shock and emotional distress, was taken first to Woodstock Town Hall before going to the hospital. Courtis opened Town Hall to offer temporary assistance to displaced residents, Pettet said.

Alexander Cantine, 72, was released from the hospital after treatment for smoke inhalation, according to his brother, Peter Cantine, who is also a real estate agent for the property. Peter said his brother woke around 5 a.m. to find his porch on fire, banged on a neighbor’s door, and quickly left the property.

The Red Cross also arranged to assist a hospitalized resident after discharge, spokesperson Mary Alice Molgard said. The organization has responded to about 70 home fires across the Hudson Valley this year, she said.

Households typically receive about $600 in immediate disaster assistance, intended to help cover one or two days of expenses, Molgard said. The Red Cross works with county social services departments on longer-term assistance and with the Salvation Army, local churches, and other organizations to help residents replace household necessities.

Liudmila Stengel, 55, who became the building’s owner and manager after her husband died, said a prospective buyer withdrew after the fire. The property was listed for sale in August for $1.775 million. The listing describes 15 studio and one-bedroom apartments in a main building constructed in 1960. Six units were vacant when the fire broke out, Stengel said.

“It’s a devastating loss,” she said.

Garcia described the property as poorly managed and maintained but did not provide specific examples in their email.

Asked about the building’s condition, Stengel said she ordered plumbing and electrical work, installed gutters, had work done on the roof, and arranged snow plowing and trash removal after taking over.

“I would say I improved greatly the condition of the building,” she said.

A fundraiser for Garcia, organized by Kitana and Leo Villavicencio, seeks $22,000 to help pay for housing, a replacement car, clothing, and other necessities. Garcia and their cats, Raven and Figgy, are staying with their sister and brother-in-law, according to the organizers.

Noah Eckstein contributed reporting.

Isabella Schoonover is a staff reporter for The Overlook covering Woodstock, Saugerties, Hurley, and surrounding Ulster County communities. Send correspondence to isabella@theoverlooknews.com.