Fire destroys Cedar St.home Sunday

by Phyllis Larabie

The Tupper Lake Fire Department was dispatched to 66 Cedar Street for a structure fire at 8:39a.m. on Sunday, October 12.

The fire was called in by a neighbor. He advised the dispatcher that there was probably a person in the home and he was banging on the door.

Upon the arrival of the first firefighters on scene, they found the back of the home on fire. A second alarm for mutual aid was put out to Paul Smiths-Gabriels Fire Department to the scene with manpower and to Piercefield Fire Department to standby at the Tupper Lake fire station with manpower and engine.

The owner of the home, Anna Decker, was able to get out safely with Addy, the family dog. Also living at the residence was Ashley Frezzo and her daughter. Ms. Frezzo and her daughter were not home at the time of the fire.

A comment on Ashley's Facebook page noted that a neighbor who normally has Sunday off decided to go to work and spotted the smoke coming from the back of the home. The neighbor banged on the door until her grandmother who was still in the home opened the door. In Ashley’s words on her Facebook page her “Grandmother is alive because of him.

Anna's two cats, Molly and Dolly, where still in the home, firefighters were able to locate them and tried to revive them using the Tupper Lake Rescue Squad’s new pet oxygen mask that were purchased after a fire a few years ago. They were unsuccessful at reviving the two pets.

A local firefighter, overwhelmed for a time by the tremendous heat generated by the fire, was evaluated by Tupper Lake Rescue Squad staff but was not transported.

Tupper Lake Fire Department was also assisted Tupper Lake Police Department and New York State Police.

The American Red Cross was available and provided financial assistance which can be used for necessities such as shelter, food, and clothing to two adults and one child, age 7. Red Cross volunteers also offered health services, comfort kits containing personal care items, stuffed animals for the child, and blankets.

Pastor Sam Perkins from Tupper Lake Baptist Chapel stopped at the fire site to check on the family and to offer any assistance the family may need and said a prayer with the homeowner and friends.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation.