Fatal fire started by cigarette

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July 6, 2009

By LUCAS BLAISE The Press Republican Mon Jul 06, 2009, 08:59 PM EDT

BLACK BROOK — The fire that killed a local man and injured his wife Sunday was caused by a cigarette.

New York State Police and Clinton County fire investigators are continuing their probe into the fatal fire Sunday afternoon at 830 Silver Lake Road in the Town of Black Brook.

Fire crews found Vernon L. Hoover, 66, dead in his home after fighting their way into the burning structure.

Sandra L. Hoover, 62, sustained injuries as a result of the fire. She was treated at CVPH Medical Center in Plattsburgh and was released Monday afternoon.

An autopsy is scheduled for today, but State Police said the fire has been ruled accidental, caused by a cigarette that caught the living-room couch on fire.

Mr. and Mrs. Hoover were home when the fire started in the house shared with their daughter, Kimberly Hoover, 39; her boyfriend, Ken. St. Germaine, 32; and her daughter, Caressa Hoover, 14.

From across the street, neighbor Timothy Seguin was having a cookout when he noticed the blaze.

“It happened so quick,” Seguin said Monday.

“Me and a guy on a motorcycle — whose name I still don’t know — went to the door.”

Mrs. Hoover was near the door, trying to exit the home when the pair arrived. Seguin said she was put on his shoulders so they could remove her from the house.

But the oxygen tanks that the couple utilized were caught by the flames.

“When they blew, we went down the ground,” Seguin said.

By the time he and the motorcyclist had Mrs. Hoover safely away from the home, nearly 20 people were on the property, he said.

“I wasn’t the only one to help.”

With Mrs. Hoover safe, they tried to go back inside for her husband, but the flames were just too hot.

“The firefighters told me that going back in would have been suicide, but you can play it in your head a thousand times, and it comes out a different way each time,” Seguin said.

“Vernon was a great guy.”

He said they’d been friends for more than 30 years.

“They were like another mom and dad to me. Their kids were like brothers and sisters (to us).”

Mr. Hoover moved to the region from Florida when he was in the U.S. Air Force. He came to the Plattsburgh Air Force Base and eventually met Sandra.

“They’ve been married for years,” Seguin said.

Locally, Mr. Hoover had a reputation of being genial and someone that could be counted on.

Bob Haywood, Town of Black Brook highway superintendent, said that the nearly two decades he spent working with Mr. Hoover at Lake Placid Granite Company and the Highway Department were memorable.

“He was always very dependable. One of those guys that you can really count on, that you can call in the middle of a snowstorm, and they’ll be there.”

Mr. Hoover was a Town of Black Brook employee for about 15 years, where he’d worked as foreman to Haywood.

Even after he retired about five years ago, he’d still drop by to talk.

“Vernon would stop by here quite a bit after retirement,” Haywood said.

They’d cover a range of topics, but Mr. Hoover always liked to know what projects the Highway Department was working on.

“Paving. He really enjoyed paving,” Haywood said. “When we were working on the roads, he was working the paver.”

Aside from work, Mr. Hoover was also known as an avid fisherman and hunter in the region, until his health made getting around more difficult.

But, even then, he wasn’t someone to just stay home.

“He was always talking with someone,” Seguin said. “When walking became more difficult, he took his riding lawn mower around.”

And whenever Seguin would have a party, the Hoovers were sure to accept the invitation.

“He was always good for a heck of a laugh at a party,” Seguin said. “Everybody like Vern. He did a lot of things for a lot of people.”