Fire destroys home in Wayne County
BROWNDALE - A Wayne County family lost their home Tuesday, as flames nearly 25-feet tall, buffeted by a frigid wind, tore through the two-story house.
Forest City Area Emergency Services Lt. Steve Davis saw the smoke from the fire a quarter-mile away from 8 Elovar Drive around 9:30 a.m. and called 911.
Homeowner David Burnis had no way to call in the fire, so he went to the firehouse in person to say his wood burner, a supplemental heating device in his garage, set fire to a couch and he could not control it, Lt. Davis said.
They arrived to "a lot of fire" in the garage, he said. A strong wind blew and fanned the flames into an inferno.
Neighbor James Liscoe was across the street and watched as the fire spread to the wrap-around porch. Eventually the whole house was engulfed. Mr. Liscoe could hear the "pop, pop" of the lawn mower, oil cans and other objects containing fuel explode in the garage.
A black and collapsed husk wreathed in white smoke was all that remained an hour after the fire began. No one was injured. Mr. Burnis, his wife, Rachel, and their 11-year-old son, Christopher, are staying with family and friends, Mr. Liscoe and Lt. Davis said.
The Burnis family had lived in the Elovar Drive house for more than 12 years, but a recent addition in the backyard, a roughly 5-foot-long propane tank, could have made the situation a lot worse, Mr. Liscoe said. The gust that blew the flames across the length of the home quickened its destruction, but did not blow in the direction of the tank. If it had been, the reach of the flames likely would have included the tank of fuel.
The fire is under investigation by a state police fire marshal, Lt. Davis said.
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