Firefighters suspect arson in flood-damaged homes

Three suspicious fires have damaged and destroyed three buildings that were in the process of being repaired from a previous flood

October 10, 2012 05:32 AM

By Michael Ryan Hudson
The Daily Mail

PRATTSVILLE, N.Y. — A third suspicious fire turned a house into charred ruins on Main Street in Prattsville, early Sunday morning.

Firefighters summoned to the west end of town at around 2:52 a.m. arrived to find the structure fully involved in flames, Prattsville 1st assistant fire chief Jim Dymond said.

Crews stayed at the site for three hours, returned home, and were then called back when the debris rekindled, not an uncommon occurrence.

No injuries were reported. Firefighters saved two nearby houses, including one occupied by an elderly gentleman. Sections of exterior siding on his house melted from the heat of the blaze.

The burned house was owned by Jim Rion who purchased it after Tropical Storm Irene and was in the process of restoring it, Dymond said.

Volunteers who continue to stream into Prattsville, helping residents recover from the flood, had reportedly been working in the building over the past few weeks.

Greene County Cause and Origin team members are investigating the fire which is the third in just over six months involving buildings damaged to some extent by the flood.

A trailer in the local mobile home park and a home in the heart of the hamlet district were destroyed in May and July, respectively.

All three buildings were without power and empty at the time they were apparently deliberately ignited. “We’re pretty sure it’s arson,” Dymond said.

“We can’t say for certain if the three fires are related but all the buildings were abandoned with no electricity turned on,” Dymond said.

The burned house was located next to property owned by Dave Rikard, formerly the site of a house which became an international symbol for Irene’s destruction.

Rikard’s elegant, two-story Victorian-style house was left hauntingly twisted and submerged in water up to its lower story windows after being undermined by the flood.

Rikard’s house has since been torn down, leaving a vacant lot with a makeshift sign reading “Hope” in what was the front yard. A lone sunflower grew there this summer.

Firefighters from Prattsville used two pumpers to extinguish the fire. Local excavator Ted Weingates assisted in dismantling the burned house and covering the smoldering debris.