Fire destroys former Altona Post Office, damages home

<a href="mailto:dheath@pressrepublican.com">By DAN HEATH</a>
Staff Writer

October 19, 2008 05:52 pm

— PLATTSBURGH — A former Altona Post Office burned to the ground early Sunday morning and damaged its owners’ home next door.
Altona Fire Department President Jamie LaBarge said the structure at 574 Devils Den Road was fully engulfed when firefighters arrived shortly after 2 a.m.
“Flames were shooting 30 feet in the air,” he said.
LaBarge said the building was more than 100 years old, with extremely dry wood that helped fuel the fire. Firefighters had to water down the home of Wayne Graves and Tina Hendrie, only about 25 feet away, to keep the fire from spreading.
“A quick response did save their house,” he said.
Melted white siding along the northern side of their two-story home gave evidence to the flames’ heat.
Their son, Evan Graves, 16, was at home Sunday afternoon. Smoldering ashes in the cement and stone foundation was all that was left next door.
“When I first saw it, I saw flames in the building. I told my mother,” Graves said. “By the time we got outside, the whole roof was in flames.”
He said the building was the Altona Post Office in the 1800s, and his family used it for storage. There wasn’t a lot inside, Graves said, mainly an old air-conditioner and some cabinets.
He said the family’s well was in the destroyed structure, so they are without running water. There was also some water damage to the home, but that was better than having their house burn, Graves said.
There was electrical service to the structure, LaBarge said, but the level of destruction makes determination of a cause improbable. He said the water supply came from a hydrant at the nearby Altona Correctional Facility.
Altona firefighters received mutual-aid from the Mooers and Ellenburg Depot fire departments, while West Chazy was on standby at the Altona Fire Station. Rescue Hose 5 was called, but that call was cancelled when firefighters realized they wouldn’t need to enter the structure.

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