Granville, NY — A 58-year-old woman died early Saturday when a fire that was started by an overloaded electrical power strip heavily damaged her home on Route 22, officials said. 

Relatives said Kimberly A. Collins died from apparent smoke inhalation during the fire at the home where she lived with her father. 

Her father, Frederick Collins, said at the fire scene that it was believed the fire started through some sort of accident on the second floor, where his daughter’s bedroom was located. State Police said the cause of the fire was determined to have been started by an electrical power strip in Ms. Collins’ bedroom that was overloaded by too many devices plugged into it. 

The fire was reported shortly after 1 a.m., State Police reported, with the first calls reporting that a resident was trapped in the home at 10311 Route 22, between the county Route 17 and Lower Turnpike intersections. The first emergency responders on the scene were state troopers who tried to get to the second floor, but thick smoke and heat forced them out of the building, officials said. 

Collins said he believed his daughter was unable to get out of her room because of heavy smoke. The smoke was confined to the second floor and front of the two-story home. 

He said he sleeps in a first-floor bedroom, where there was little to no smoke. A family dog and numerous cats escaped the blaze. 

He said his daughter was the mother of an adult and stayed home to take care of him, as he is a disabled U.S. Army veteran. He said she was the first American child born in a military hospital in Seoul, South Korea, while he was stationed there after the Korean War ended. 

Collins said his three other children do not live in the area, but one had arrived as of early Saturday to help. 

“It really hurts me because I am all alone here,” he said. 

The front of the home was scarred by flames and smoke, and numerous windows were broken. 

At least eight fire departments from Washington and Warren counties were called out, and many remained on the scene as of 5 a.m. A Post-Star staff member who went to the scene found the fire out and home cordoned off with yellow tape, but no police were on hand as of 9 a.m. 

The Washington County Department of Public Safety said State Police and county fire investigators were investigating later Saturday. Route 22 was limited to one lane as of 5 a.m., but it had re-opened as of 9 a.m. 

The fire was the second major house fire in North Granville in less than three months, as a fire destroyed a Route 40 home in late July, killing two dogs. 

Firefighters from North Granville, Granville, Middle Granville, Hartford, Fort Ann, West Fort Ann, Whitehall and Bay Ridge were called out for the fire. 

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