TO THE EDITOR: THE NORTHFIELD NEWS RECENTLY, I had a fire in my wood stove chimney. I was home alone, as my husband was away on business. My neighbor, Chris Wade (an Orange county deputy sheriff) was at my house within two minutes of my frantic call to him — he told me to call 911 as he proceeded to use both his and my fire extinguishers.

Shortly thereafter, several Williamstown volunteer firefighters and four members of the Williamstown ambulance squad arrived at the scene.

Despite the treacherous road conditions, my steep slippery driveway, wet cold snow falling, and the darkness, some of these brave firefighters climbed onto my metal roof to access the chimney, while other firefighters climbed into my narrow attic opening upstairs to check that the fire was contained within the chimney. They all remained at my house for over an hour to handle this situation.

I would like to express my thanks to everyone who responded to this situation.

There has been much negative press about the town of Williamstown where I live. There may be some problems in this town, but I truly believe there are some very good people living here that are working hard to resolve these problems.

I hope the residents of Williamstown realize how blessed we are to have such a great group of men and women available to assist us in such a professional and friendly manner in an emergency such as this. They deserve our praise and appreciation.

JANE HULSTRUNK

Williamstown