House burns twice in 12 hours

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April 29, 2010

By ANDREA VanVALKENBURG Staff Writer The Press Republican Thu Apr 29, 2010, 08:25 PM EDT

WEST CHAZY — When Linda Harvey left her residence, she didn’t have power.

When she returned, she didn’t have a home.

The West Chazy woman was one of many residents who lost electricity during the late-spring storm that struck earlier this week and dumped several inches of wet slush across the area.

So on Wednesday, she decided to leave her Harvey Road residence as she waited for power to return.

But, officials suspect, when her utilities were restored, it somehow sparked an electrical malfunction inside the kitchen area of her mobile home.

A short time later, neighbors spotted smoke erupting from inside the residence and called 911.

Within minutes of the 7:30 p.m. call, about 40 volunteers from the West Chazy, Chazy, Altona, Beekmantown, District 3, Cumberland Head and Mooers fire departments arrived to the thickly wooded area to douse the growing flames.

As Champlain firefighters provided standby support, crews remained at Harvey’s home for about three hours making sure the blaze was knocked down and investigating its cause.

After returning to service, firefighters headed home for the night.

But within a few hours, about two dozen volunteers were called back out when another fire broke out inside the home.

“It was fully involved again,” West Chazy Fire Chief Dave Lucia said from the station Thursday afternoon.

“The house was completely destroyed in the first fire because of the heat and smoke, and when the second one ignited it burned the roof off.

“It really opened up the house then.”

The cause of that fire is still being investigated and brought out crews from the West Chazy, Beekmantown and Mooers fire departments.

Chazy and District 3 volunteers provided standby support during that call, which was reported by a passing Press-Republican newspaper carrier.

No injuries were reported during either fire, which kept volunteers busy for a total of about seven hours.

Lucia said Mrs. Harvey was located and told of the fire midday Thursday.

It was unclear at that time if she was insured.

She is expected to stay with relatives in the area as she recovers.

Mrs. Harvey’s home is now considered a total loss, and most of her possessions were destroyed in the fires.

“We have no idea how the second fire started,” the veteran fire chief said.

“I’ve been at this for 26 years, and I’ve never seen anything like it.”