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July 28, 2008

Lightning-sparked fire destroys Champlain home

By DAN HEATH

PLATTSBURGH -- No one was injured but a Champlain home is a total loss after a fire Saturday afternoon.

First Assistant Chief Pete Timmons of the Champlain Fire Department said Christopher Smith's home at 134 Gamlaw Road burned to the ground.

"It was totally involved when we got there," Timmons said.

Smith wasn't home at the time, he said, and a dog that was tied up out back was not harmed. The two-story wood home, along with a two-car garage and two pickup trucks parked near the house were all destroyed, Timmons said.

The Champlain Fire Department received mutual-aid assistance from the Rouses Point, Rescue Hose 5, Chazy, West Chazy, Altona and Beekmantown fire departments in New York, the Alburg Fire Department in Vermont and the St. Paul and Hemmingford fire departments in Quebec. Firefighters from the St. Bernard de Lacolle Fire Department in Quebec were on standby at the Champlain Fire Station.

Timmons said Canadian mutual-aid responders said they could see the fire before they got to the border and Chazy responders could see it from the Stewart's shop on Route 9.

The fire was reported by a passing motorist shortly after 4 p.m., Timmons said. He said there has been confirmation it was caused by a lightning strike from the powerful thunderstorm that passed through Champlain at that time.

"It was a quick storm that went through. It dumped hail in Champlain," Timmons said.

Firefighters were hampered by live ammunition that went off due to the heat and flames, he said.

"Our main concern was to keep it contained to that structure," Timmons said.

He said efforts to bring water from a hydrant on Lawrence Paquette Industrial Drive in Champlain Industrial Park were slowed by the number of cars and by-standers trying to get a glimpse of the fire on the narrow dead-end road between the Village of Champlain and Northeastern Clinton Central School off of Prospect Street.

"There were so many cars on Prospect, it made it difficult to get down there," Timmons said. "That (bystanders) is an issue with any fire or MVA."

The Champlain Fire Department was back in service by 11 p.m. Firefighters had to respond to a rekindle at around midnight.

They were able to extinguish some hot spots without further incident and returned to the station by 1:30 a.m.

Smith told firefighters he didn't want Red Cross assistance, and that the home was insured.

"He lost all of his belongings," Timmons said.

Smith left a contact number for his mother's home in Champlain, Timmons said.

dheath@pressrepublican.com

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