Fort Covington mobile home destroyed by fire

<a href="mailto:avanvalkenburg@pressrepublican.com">By ANDREA VanVALKENBURG</a>
Staff Writer

October 23, 2008 08:14 pm

— FORT COVINGTON — Thick smoke billowed from the woods off Route 32 Thursday afternoon when a fast-moving fire destroyed a mobile home here.
Officials believe the blaze may have been sparked by a wood stove and said no one was home when the flames erupted around 3 p.m.
“It was fully involved when we got there,” Fort Covington Second Assistant Chief Kent Bigness said as crews returned to the station about three hours later.
He said about 30 volunteers from Fort Covington, Brushton, Bombay, Moira, Bangor, Westville and Hogansburg-Akwesasne fire departments descended on the home, which is owned by Charlie Ashley, within minutes of the emergency call.
With their quick response, crews were able to douse the inferno before it spread to the dry autumn landscape that surrounded the residence about 1,000 feet from the county roadway.
But the fire had already consumed the residence at 793 Route 32, leaving behind only a charred pile of rubble and blackened remnants of the family home.
“There’s nothing left to it,” Bigness said.
Fire officials were initially unsure who was living in the home but said all of their personal belongings were destroyed by the blaze.
It was unclear where the occupants would be staying as they recover from the fire.
No additional information about the blaze was available Thursday evening.

E-mail Andrea VanValkenburg at:
avanvalkenburg@pressrepublican.com