By MEAGAN MURRAY

Contributing Writer

BLACK BROOK — A local man was killed and his wife injured in a fire that destroyed their Silver Lake Road home Sunday afternoon.

Vernon Hoover, 67, is reported to have died in the blaze at his 836 Silver Lake Road residence. State Police would not yet confirm Mr. Hoover’s death, but fire officials reported the blaze was fatal.

The AuSable Forks Fire Department was dispatched to the Hoover residence at 2:15 p.m. Sunday.

Mr. Hoover and his wife, Sandra, 62, were reportedly home when the fire started.

Neighbor Maryann Denton said she heard a loud explosion and ran outside to find the house on fire.

According to onlookers, an unidentified motorcyclist passing by the home and a neighbor, Timothy Seguin, 48, were able to force down the front door and carry out Mrs. Hoover, who was reportedly hooked up to an oxygen tank.

She was transported by ambulance to CVPH Medical Center, where she was still being evaluated Sunday evening.

The couple’s daughter, Kimberly Hoover, 39, also lived at the home with her daughter, Caressa, 14, and boyfriend, Ken St. Germaine, 32, and four cats.

Kimberly said she received a call from her daughter, who was down the street at a friend’s house when she learned of the fire, and rushed to the home.

AuSable Forks Assistant Fire Chief Michael Cross said that District 3 firefighters were called in with water tankers from the Keeseville, Jay, Saranac and Wilmington fire departments to fight the blaze. The Peru Fire Department and AuSable Forks emergency-medical technicians were standing by, he said, along with the South Plattsburgh Fire Department’s air truck for additional support if needed.

The house suffered severe roof- and interior-structural damage from the flames.

Cross is calling the home a total loss. The cause of the fire has not yet been determined, and police were still investigating Sunday evening.