Only on 13: Brave passersby save people from burning Hudson home

It was a just another day on the job for two city workers in Hudson this week – until something extraordinary happened.

Frank Rogers and Peter Wrigley have spent nearly every day together working for the city for more than a decade. Wrigley is a former volunteer firefighter for Hudson.

“We’ve been working together since day one. We’re like a married couple,” said Rogers, a motor equipment operator, with a laugh.

It was a quiet morning on the job, and the pair were on their way across town when something caught their eyes.

“We saw this column of smoke in the distance and the closer we got, we got to see the back of the building, saw flames shooting over the roof,” said Wrigley, a senior equipment operator.

The pair rushed to the home on Maple Avenue in the Town of Greenport. Wrigley said his fire fighting skills immediately kicked in, despite not having fought a fire in about 20 years. He instructed Rogers to knock on the home’s door.  

“I just ran up, knocked on the door, bang bang. I said, ‘Get out, the house is on fire!’” Rogers said.

He got escorted two people – including a young girl – out of the burning home.

Former Patrolman Kevin Sweet and Detective Sergeant Jason Finn from Hudson Police also stopped to help as they saw the flames.  

“And we’re like, what are we going to use to put this out? They had an old garden hose there that was broken, so I got the garden hose, Frank got a shovel that he found there, he’s throwing dirt on it. Kevin cut a one gallon jug out, was taking stagnant water out of a pool and throwing it on there and that’s how we put the fire out,” Wrigley said.

By the time Greenport Fire arrived several minutes later, the fire was out.

No one answered when NewsChannel 13 knocked on Friday, but charred remnants tell the story of a fire that could have been much worse.

“We were just there at the right time, and it was just our day to help somebody, which I’d like somebody to help me and my family if we were in a situation like that,” Rogers said.

“It’s nice to be recognized, but I don’t need it,” Wrigley said.

The city was looking at formally recognizing their efforts, said Hudson Police Chief Ed Moore.