ITHACA, N.Y. — April 10, 2026 — Two Groton residents died after a mobile home caught fire shortly after midnight Friday at the Valley View Mobile Home Park, the Tompkins County Sheriff’s Department said. Emergency responders arrived about 12:35 a.m. and found the home “fully engulfed” with two people inside.
Firefighters were able to extract one person through a window, but both ultimately died, authorities said. Archived emergency scanner recordings indicate the victims were a man and his father; the recordings say the man initially escaped with his wife and then went back into the burning home to try to rescue his father. Law enforcement has not released the victims’ names.
Tracey Wilson, who works at the mobile home park and said he had known the residents for years, described them as longtime, valued tenants. “They were good people. Excellent tenants, too,” Wilson said. “Always friendly, would always wave whenever I went by.” He added the elder victim was a skilled portrait photographer.
Fire departments from Groton, Dryden, McLane, Tompkins and Ithaca International Airport, along with New York State units, Bangs Ambulance and the Tompkins County Sheriff’s Office responded to the blaze. The incident remains under investigation.
Source: ithacavoice.org (Hailea Potter, Megan Zerez)
