By DENISE RAYMO
CHATEAUGAY — A fast-moving fire destroyed a rented home on U.S. Route 11 Thursday afternoon.
Steven Cook rented the property at 7775 Route 11 across from Eastside Cemetery, but he was not at home when the blaze broke out about 1 p.m., said Chateaugay Second Assistant Fire Chief Brett Perry.
“When we arrived, there was very heavy smoke, and we called out for Mutual Aid,” he said.
In addition to Chateaugay personnel, firefighters from Burke and Constable were brought in, as were a few members of the Churubusco Volunteer Fire Department who happen to work in Burke.
Perry said the cause of the fire is still under investigation, but it does not appear to be suspicious.
He said the kitchen area, situated in the center of the manufactured home, appeared to be where the blaze was concentrated.
But the damage was widespread.
“Once the fire gets going in one of these trailers, it goes quick,” Perry said. “It’s still standing, but if it hadn’t been called in when it was, it would’ve burned to the ground.”
Nearly all of the windows on three sides of the structure were punched out, and the tin roof was peeled away in spots to give firefighters easier access to the flames.
The corrugated-steel siding was also stripped away in long, crooked sections, revealing the charred wooden interior walls.
An upholstered chair, burned and blackened in the fire, was tipped on its back and lying in the side lawn.
A screened–in addition seemed unaffected at the rear of the home, which offers a spectacular view of farmland and the changing leaves behind the property.
Perry did not think Cook could return to live in the home, which, he said, is owned by Brenda Lee.
Cook declined to be interviewed.
It took 6,000 gallons of water and 18 to 20 firefighters to bring the fire under control within two hours.
Franklin County Fire Police rerouted traffic, “which was a godsend because of the amount of traffic you get that time of day,” Perry said.
E-mail Denise A. Raymo at:
draymo@pressrepublican.com
