Eight departments battle fires in Antwerp and Brownville

A barn in the town of Antwerp and a single-stall garage in the town of Brownville were destroyed in separate fires Monday.

High winds fueled flames in a 100-by-34-foot barn on the property of Lawrence Whitmire, 38824 Fox Ranch Road, near the St. Lawrence County line. The cause of the fire, which erupted about 2 p.m. at the rear of the structure, was undetermined.

No animals were in the insured structure. Some small explosions that were heard in the building apparently involved gas cans, according to Joseph D. Plummer, acting county director of fire and emergency management.

Firefighters from Antwerp, Philadelphia, Oxbow, Theresa and Gouverneur battled the blaze.

Carelessly discarded smoking materials were the suspected cause of a blaze that was reported shortly after 11 a.m. in a garage at the Michael Lucidi residence, 16360 Route 12E, Dexter, Mr. Plummer said.

No one was home when the blaze was discovered. Fire units from Dexter, Glen Park and Brownville responded to the alarm.

No vehicles were in the garage, which was used for storage, he said.