REBECCA WEBSTER
Press-Republican
WEST CHAZY — Edra Langlois stood outside Wednesday morning sipping a cup of coffee, her gaze fixed on the charred remains of her home.
The smoke alarm had alerted the West Chazy woman and her husband, Leon, to the middle-of-the-night fire at their 25 Academy St. home.
Her husband jumped up, she remembered, and yelled to her, "Get out! The house is on fire!"
They ran for the shed in the back of the two-story home and called 911 to report their house was aflame. The passing seconds seemed longer than they actually were, so Mrs. Langlois called a second time.
"It seemed like forever ... The windows were popping out," she said. "I was scared."
HELP COMES
When the first fire crews arrived at around 3:30 a.m., the home was blazing, said West Chazy Volunteer Fire Department Chief Dave Lucia.
"The house was fully involved. The vehicle in the driveway was fully involved. There were power lines attached to the house that were sparking. And the siding on the neighbor's garage was melting," he said.
Although the cause was still under investigation, the fire chief said they were thinking the vehicle, perhaps, had caught fire first and then flames spread to the home.
Chazy, Beekmantown, Altona, Mooers, District 3 and Cumberland Head fire departments responded to aid West Chazy. Nearly 60 firefighters worked throughout the early morning, using upwards of 100,000 gallons of water to put the fire out, Lucia said.
"It was a good effort by all the departments involved, for what we faced when we first got there," he said.
They were able to contain the fire to the one building, he added.
By 9 a.m., the West Chazy Fire Department was back in service.
FAMILY HOME
The Langloises were scheduled to meet with their insurance company Wednesday afternoon. Mrs. Langlois said she likely wouldn't accept American Red Cross help, except for perhaps her husband's medication.
She said many in the community had already done so much.
Two of her sisters live in the neighborhood: one next door, the other across the street.
Mrs. Langlois said they would likely stay with her husband's mother.
Later in the morning, the car sat in the driveway, toasted, the windows gone, the color concealed by the ash.
Through the empty front door frame, burned remnants of furniture and other belongings were piled high.
Icicles from the water used to extinguish the flames hung from charred beams inside.
Mrs. Langlois stood in the yard next door wearing shoes given to her by one of her sisters.
She had grown up in the home; over time, it became hers.
But the house was left gutted by the blaze.
"The only thing they (the Langloises) got out with was the clothes on their backs," the fire chief said.
Email Rebecca Webster at: rwebster@pressrepublican.com
