NY woman seriously injured in house fire

Daily Courier-Observer

MASSENA, N.Y. — A 68-year-old Massena woman is being treated for serious injuries she received in a fire early Wednesday morning at her home on state Route 420 just outside the village limits.

Massena Volunteer Fire Department Chief Thomas Miller said investigators have ruled the cause of the fire was accidental due to smoking materials.

Mr. Miller said a neighbor living across the road reported the fire at 2206A state Route 420 at 2:30 a.m. Wednesday. "The whole front of the house was going when we got here. There were flames everywhere. They were shooting out the front door. It looked like a funnel. By the amount of flames, it had to have been going on for a while," he said.

Mr. Miller said the female resident of the home was initially treated for injuries she suffered in the fire at Massena Memorial Hospital and then was transported to the Vermont Medical Center in Burlington, Vt. The Massena fire chief declined to identify the resident’s name Wednesday morning.

A dog died in the fire.

Fire investigators from St. Lawrence County and New York state were on the scene Wednesday morning. The structure was declared uninhabitable.

He said the female was only person living in the rental property owned by John Plourde. "She got out. She was sitting on the side of the road when we got here. I notified rescue to step it up when we saw the extent of her injuries," Mr. Miller noted.

Louisville and Norfolk firefighters provided mutual aid at the scene, and Louisville also provided standby at the Massena station.

Mr. Miller said there were some construction issues, including knee walls, in the older two-story structure that posed challenges for firefighters. He also said interior firefighters found it difficult to battle the blaze due to difficulties navigating around inside the home.

Firefighters remained on the scene until shortly after 7 a.m. Wednesday. A section of state Route 420 was closed for several hours in the area of the fire scene.

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