All dogs safe after Northwind Kennels fire

Firefighters had to navigate a narrow driveway to gain access to the fire BEDFORD FIRE DEPARTMENT PHOTO

By JEFF MORRIS

Flames destroyed a building at Northwind Kennels in Bedford on Friday, Dec. 12, but rescuers were able to save dozens of animals in the building.

The kennel, at 402 Old Post Road, is made up of multiple buildings that stretch uphill along a narrow, winding driveway. The single-story structure where the fire occurred is at the top of the hill.

The kennel is run by Penny Berk, who is facing seven counts of cruelty to animals from a 2024 case. Some officials have said the blaze appears to have been caused by a faulty clothes dryer, but a Westchester County investigative team has not released its findings.

According to Bedford Fire Chief Graham Glauber, a call came in at 5:42 a.m., and his crew was on-site three or four minutes after.

“Somebody called from the scene,” he said. “I’m not sure who.” He thought it was somebody physically on-site, not a motorist or passerby, based on what he was told at the scene.

Glauber said firefighters couldn’t navigate the driveway to get all the trucks they needed up there, so after managing to get one shorter engine up to the top, they stretched a supply line from Old Post Road. 

“We had four lines operating at the height of the fire,” he said of the two-alarm blaze. “All the other resources had to stay on the main road; we did end up shutting down Route 172 for four or five hours to allow us to operate there.”

“We had a pretty significant contingent of departments that were dispatched on the first alarm,” Glauber said.

Joint effort to rescue dogs

“The people on-site, including Bedford Police and our first-arriving units, were assisting in getting any of the dogs that were in the building, out of the building,” he said. “There were dogs that were still in their kennel cages at the time, so we assisted to remove those dogs to another building on the property.”

Glauber said it was a bit chaotic because it was a working fire before sunrise.

“We were trying to establish where exactly the fire was, simultaneous to removing these dogs,” he said. “PD assisted; our members assisted; and there were definitely people who — I’m not sure if they were the owners, or volunteers, or employees of the kennel — people who were not affiliated with emergency services who were also helping to move the dogs out.”

He said somebody on-site suggested they move the animals into another building directly adjacent to the burning building, and that’s where they ended up temporarily.

“We attempted to notify the SPCA, and we were also able to have the Bedford animal control officer as well as the Village of Mount Kisco animal control officers come to the scene, to assist with relocation and any treatment needed for the animals,” Glauber said.

The chief said they also located another kennel building directly below the involved building that was full of dogs.

“When we searched the secondary kennel below the fire building, we did have smoke in that area, but we made the decision that because there was a natural fire break by virtue of having an exterior space in between the two areas, we ventilated the smoke from that building but we left those dogs in the kennel cages,” he said. 

Glauber said they made that tactical decision in part because they had members who were bitten while relocating dogs. 

“Just kind of nipped at,” he said. “Obviously the animals in the fire building were stressed, as a natural reaction; luckily with our fire gear, which is a heavier gear and our gloves, we didn’t have to send anybody to the hospital for dog bites, but we did have multiple members who were bitten.”

Glauber said they ventilated the room and metered it to make sure it was safe, since animals are susceptible to the same levels of carbon monoxide as humans. But, he said, they did not move any of the dogs from the fire building into that adjacent building; those dogs were moved into a separate building, though he was not sure who did that. He did not know how many dogs there were in total; all he knew was that all the dogs were out, and as far as he was concerned, that was all that mattered.

“We definitely had at least a dozen dogs in the involved building that needed to be moved out,” he said. Some accounts said there were 22.

The damage to the building was significant, Glauber said, especially in the rear; “You can see that the roof collapsed.”

According to information obtained from the Bedford Building Department, the affected section of the kennel “is not habitable at this time and has been placarded as such.”

On the day of the fire, Berk, owner of both Northwind and Rescue Right animal rescue, posted on social media, “We had a fire in our top floor laundry early this morning. That floor houses our rescue dogs and each one of them was moved to another floor. Pets we board for the public are housed in the bottom floor and they were not affected and are fine.” 

She said they had “44 dogs between rescue dogs and boarders,” later posting, “All of us at Northwind Kennels and Rescue Right want to express our deepest gratitude to the dedicated first responders, not only from Bedford but neighboring towns as well, for quickly putting out the fire and helping us move the dogs to other parts of the kennel. They were all truly wonderful to us and the dogs.”

The cause of the fire has still not been officially disclosed by the Westchester County Cause and Origin Team, though there have been public pronouncements about it having originated in a faulty dryer. 

Glauber posted on the Bedford Fire Department’s Facebook page, “It is likely this was caused by a dryer machine,” and then told The Recorder, “Their investigation is pretty much wrapped up; we walked through with them, and basically made the determination that it was a dryer machine that was the source of the fire.” 

Bedford Police Lt. Jeffrey Gulick has been quoted as saying the fire was “not arson” and the cause was determined to be the dryer; he told The Recorder, “The Westchester County Cause and Origin lead investigator for this fire also happens to be a detective at our police agency. I’ve had several conversations with him, and while a more detailed report is still being completed, all indications are that the fire was accidental, not suspicious in nature and caused by a dryer.” 

Chief Mark Iannucci, director of Fire Services and Westchester County Fire Coordinator, told The Recorder, “The Cause and Origin Team is the only one who can release any information,” and that has not yet happened.

The incident occurred less than a week before Berk was scheduled to appear in court for the possible resolution of a case that has now stretched out for well over a year. 

Berk was arrested by the SPCA Westchester Humane Law Enforcement Unit in July 2024 on five counts of animal cruelty, and then again in November 2024 on two additional counts.

All of the charges stem from the discovery of dogs suffering from distemper, who went untreated while in Berk’s care and had to be euthanized. The case was moved from Bedford to Mount Kisco after both Bedford town justices recused themselves.

Court appearances have been repeatedly postponed and adjourned. The last time Berk actually appeared in court was May 1 of this year, at which time the prosecution said they were offering a plea deal, which her Attorney Anthony Siano requested time to review. Siano subsequently told The Recorder that neither he nor his client had requested any of the adjournments that have occurred since. 

Berk was to appear in court Thursday, but the case was once again postponed to Jan. 22.