CROTON FALLS — A Brewster High School social studies teacher, his wife and their dog escaped a fire in their apartment early Tuesday by fleeing out a bathroom window and onto the roof of an adjoining auto repair shop.

A resident in a neighboring apartment also was forced to evacuate.
Tom Mullane said he and his wife, Angela, were awakened by a smoke alarm to a fire in their living room on the second floor of 4 W. Cross St.
“She sprung up, she went to the other room to grab the dog, and then we booked it out the bathroom window,” he said. “You can step out onto the roof of the mechanic’s shop next door.”

The fire broke out about 3:42 a.m. in the three-story building that also houses Croton Creek Steakhouse & Wine Bar, said Jason Blauvelt, Croton Falls first assistant fire chief. Firefighters limited the damage to one room, he said.

The couple and Maggie, their beagle mix, were on the roof of Croton Falls Auto Center about five minutes before firefighters rescued them.
The blaze was ruled accidental, though no cause had been determined.
Mullane and his wife are staying with his parents in Chappaqua. They’d lived in the apartment about two years.

Steakhouse owner Eric Kupferberg said the restaurant sustained no damage

Terence Corcoran/lohud.com

Brewster High teacher, wife escape fire
Tenants flee Croton Falls fire Written by
Frank Becerra Jr., Lee Higgins and Terence Corcoran