Fire damages Antwerp farmhouse

ANTWERP — Heavy smoke barreled out of an old farmhouse Tuesday afternoon as flames gutted the structure on County Route 28 in the town of Antwerp.

A wood-burning stove which had been under intense use in the two-story home of Richard A. and Dawn M. Goff for two days was the cause of the blaze, according to a county fire investigator.

Antwerp firefighters responded to a 12:45 p.m. alarm, then put out a call for interior firefighters from neighboring fire departments. Evans Mills, Theresa, Oxbow, Pamelia, Philadelphia and Redwood volunteer companies were dispatched, with followup calls for Gouverneur, Great Bend and LaFargeville units to be on stand-by.

Firefighters were able to remove some family belongings from the uninsured structure.

Fire investigator Gary A. Loomis said the couple has four daughters living with them. Two of them, Hannah, 17, and Amy, 19, were at home, and after hearing a popping sound, discovered flames in the wall around a stove pipe at the center of the structure. One of them called 911 to report the blaze and told a dispatcher that everybody was out of the house.

Earle E. Jenne, who lives across the road from the fire scene, said he could see no open flames, but heavy smoke was pouring from the dwelling. A breeze was blowing toward a horse barn across the road, he said. The horses were out to pasture.

Mr. Loomis said the blaze, given a large oxygen supply because of the “balloon construction” of the building, “moved up and out,” engulfing the interior. Shortly after he and fire officers returned to the outdoors after inspecting the wood stove area, a floor above the stove collapsed.

“We knew it was going to go,” he said. Nobody was injured.

Mr. and Mrs. Goff, owners of the property since 2002, were not at home, and two other daughters, Rachael and Mary Rose, were in school.

A volunteer with the American Red Cross was contacted to offer assistance to the family.