Published: October 12, 2009 12:20 pm      

No one hurt in Ridgeway fire

Blaze and two accidents keep rescue workers busy.

RIDGEWAY — A house fire left an Orleans County family homeless after it swept through their two-story home Friday night, according to the Orleans County Sheriff’s Office.

Ridgeway firefighters were called to the scene of a structure fire at 10858 Ridge Road — the site of the former Jantzi’s Bushel N’peck market — at 8:20 p.m. after a neighbor called 911 to report flames coming from the residence of the home at that location, according to police.

Husband and wife Robert Sloper, 56, and Jann Sloper, 53, and their teenage daughter were not home at the time of the fire.

The family is being assisted by the Orleans County chapter of the American Red Cross.

The sheriff’s office stated that the cause of the fire is yet to be determined, and the incident is being investigated by Deputy J.J. Cole, Investigator C.L. Black and the Orleans County Office of Emergency Management.

The Ridgeway Fire Department was assisted by members of the Albion, Shelby, East Shelby, Lyndonville, Medina and Middleport fire departments.

Also on Friday, a Holley man was hospitalized after a one-vehicle crash just before 9 p.m. in the Town of Murray.

The incident occurred in the 3200 block of state Route 237 (N. Main Street Road) a half a mile south of Route 104 (Ridge Road).

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Carl E. Bauer, 62, of Holley was driving a 1994 Plymouth sedan, heading south on Route 237, when he went off the west side of the road and struck a utility pole, overturned and landed upside-down in a ditch, according to the Sheriff’s Office.

Members of the Holley Fire Department had to extricate Bauer, who was the only person in the vehicle, while being careful of live power lines resting on and near the vehicle. He was transported by Holley Volunteer Ambulance to Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester, where he was listed in satisfactory condition as of Saturday morning, according to reports from the Sheriff’s Office.

Bauer is reportedly facing a charge of aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle as a result of his license being suspended. Additional charges are pending the results of a toxicology test.

The incident remains under investigation by Deputy J.M. Mitchell.

On Saturday morning, a collision between a pickup truck and a farm tractor in the Town of Carlton also sent one man to the hospital.

The accident occurred at about 6:40 a.m. in the 1300 block of Ashwood Road, 1/2 mile west of Harrsion Road.

Johathan R. Soule, 22, of Albion, was operating his 1995 Ford F-150 west on Ashwood Road when he struck a John Deere 9220 farm tractor, owned by Triple “P” Farms of Oakfield, Genesee County, head on, according to the Sheriff’s Office. The tractor, operated by Joseph L. Webster, 30, of Elba, Genesee County, was parked in the westbound traffic lane facing east while a load of corn in an attached dump-box was being transferred to a tractor-trailer truck parked alongside the eastbound traffic lane.

Soule, who was the only person in his vehicle, had to be extricated by Carlton and Albion firefighters and was then transported by Central Orleans Volunteer Ambulance to Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester. His injuries were not believed to be life-threatening, said police.

Soule is facing a charge of aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle as a result of his license being suspended, according to the Sheriff’s Office. Charges against the farm tractor operator are pending.

The incident remains under investigation by Sgt. D.E. Draper Jr.