Firefighters save West Chazy home from basement blaze

Local News

Discussion

PLEASE NOTE: There is a 150 word maximum for comments. All comments greater than 150 words in length will be deleted in their entirety.

ALSO NOTE: Derisive name-calling of an individual or group will result in the entire comment being deleted. This includes the terms "stupid" and "idiot" and similar references.

Welcome to our new online comments feature. Before you can join the discussion, you must first register with Disqus and verify your email address.

Once you do, your comments will post after they have been reviewed by a moderator.

We welcome your thoughts and your opinions, including unpopular ones. We ask only that you keep the conversation civil and clean.

Not all comments are deemed printable. Some are disqualified, at the newspaper’s discretion, for a number of reasons. Here are some typical practices to avoid in trying to get your comment printed:

There is a 150 word maximum for comments. All comments greater than 150 words in length will be deleted in their entirety.

Don’t state as a fact something that is unsubstantiated or that our editors wouldn't know to be true.

Don’t presume someone’s guilt in a case when it hasn't been established by a court.

Don’t assail or impugn an identifiable individual or group. If you have that kind of criticism, sign your name and submit it as a Letter to the Editor. (There is some leeway on this in connection with public officials, but it is not unconditional.)

Don’t use profanity. This includes the term “tea bagger.”

Don’t be incendiary or tasteless. Those qualities are subjective, of course, and our editors will be the arbiters.

Do not identify yourself in the main content area of the article content form. Only by enforcing this rule can the moderators prevent unscrupulous commenters from falsely identifying themselves as someone they are not.

Don't type in all caps. It is considered the Internet equivalent of shouting.

In sports articles, do not criticize officiating.

Remember, moderators are not allowed to edit any article comments. If an article comment fails any of the above criteria, the entire comment will be deleted.

We monitor comments Monday - Friday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. Approval of comments outside these times may be delayed.

comments powered by Disqus

May 10, 2009

By DAN HEATH The Press Republican Fri May 14, 2010, 07:48 PM EDT

WEST CHAZY — Firefighters saved a West Chazy home from major property damage extinguishing a basement blaze Sunday night.

Clinton County Emergency Services called the West Chazy Fire Department to a fire at a home owned by Alexandra Farbotko, which sits across the road from 7493 Route 22 at 8:30 p.m. The two-story house is just south of the hamlet of West Chazy in the Town of Chazy, just north of the Ketcham Bridge Road intersection.

Farbotko's son, Stanley Farbotko, said his 93-year-old mother was staying with her daughter, Anna Sherman, of Plattsburgh.

"The house was kind of closed off. There were appliances running in the cellar," Mr. Farbotko said.

West Chazy Fire Chief David Lucia said he arrived to see flames coming out of a basement window. He and another firefighter used two fire extinguishers to knock the flames down.

"It appears the fire had been burning for some time. The damage was contained to the basement and a bedroom on the first floor," Lucia said. "The damage to personal property was minimal."

There was smoke damage to the rest of the house. West Chazy received mutual aid assistance from the Beekmantown, Chazy and District 3 fire departments. The Mooers Fire Department had its air truck at the fire.

Standby support was provided by the Altona and Mooers fire departments in West Chazy and the Cumberland Head Fire Department in Beekmantown.

Lucia said his crew was waiting for investigators to finish before they would go in to move some appliances and take down some panelling to make sure all the embers were extinguished.

The fire was reported by a neighbor across the street and by a passerby who used a cell phone.

E-mail Dan Heath at: dheath@pressrepublican.com