Mason Kraese, Huntington Manor firefighter, killed in ATV crash upstate, authorities say

A Huntington Manor firefighter was killed over the weekend when he crashed while riding an all-terrain vehicle in the upstate town of Summit, authorities there said.

Mason Kraese, of Huntington Station, was among a group riding together on ATVs about 9:29 p.m. Saturday when he crashed into a tree, according to a news release from the Schoharie County Sheriff’s Office. Kraese died of his injuries at Cobleskill Regional Hospital, the release said.

"The investigation into what caused the crash is active and ongoing," Sgt. Joseph Prall, of the Schoharie sheriff's office told Newsday in a phone interview Monday. Rural Schoharie County is about 50 miles west of Albany.

Kraese was a member of Steamfitters Local Union 638 and an actor who appeared in several movies directed by New Hyde Park filmmaker Candice T. Cain, said Dara Avenius, a publicist for the filmmaker, in an email Monday. Avenius said Kraese was 27.

Avenius, who said she’d been authorized to speak by Kraese’s family, said Kraese was the "beloved son of Mary Beth and Phil Kraese, and the brother of Gunnar and Colton." Funeral services were pending, she wrote.

When reached by phone Monday, Cain declined to comment, but wrote earlier in a Facebook post: "I am gutted ... Mason Kraese was sweet, kind, funny and always around in the beginning of Cain Talent and Gemelli Films," her film company.

Kraese’s family, many of whom are also volunteer firefighters, could not be reached Monday.

Several of Long Island’s volunteer fire departments posted condolences on Facebook. Huntington Manor Fire Department Fan Page, which says it is dedicated to the department’s firefighters but has no affiliation, posted a photograph of Kraese in his bunker gear with a message that said, in part: "Rest in Peace brother you will be missed."

Kraese, a former varsity football player at Walt Whitman High School, posted hundreds of photographs of vehicles on his social media accounts, most of which appeared to feature a GMC pickup or a modified Jeep. They appear, sometimes muddy and sometimes gleaming clean, at truck pull competitions, beaches and off-road sites.

One of the few non-truck posts, from 2019, showed him smiling proudly while shaking hands with an older man in front of the fire department’s banner.

"Last night I was sworn into the Huntington Manor Fire department hook and ladder company!! A huge journey for me is about to start," a caption accompanying the post read, in part.

Huntington Manor Fire Department leaders could not be reached Monday, but in a Facebook post, former chief James Glidden wrote: "This kid only wanted to please everyone and would do anything a friend needed. We were looking through pictures and there wasn't one without his huge smile. He was a hard worker and loyal friend to so many. Most of all he was a wonderful man. Mason Kraese you will be missed by so many but forgotten by none!!!"

By Nicholas Spangler

nicholas.spangler@newsday.comspanglernewsday

Nicholas Spangler is a general assignment reporter and has worked at Newsday since 2010.