Holley, N.Y. — An overnight fire destroyed a home and garage in Holley.
Firefighters were responding to the call of a fire involving a wood burning stove according to Clarendon Assistant Fire Chief Kerry McCormick.
A member of the family living at the Howard Road home told 13WHAM News that all three people and two pets escaped the fire. No definitive cause for the fire has been determined, but firefighters believe it was the wood burning stove.
As firemen were responding, they found that there were no fire hydrants on the street.
Aside from a lack of hydrants, windy conditions helped fuel the fire, according to McCormick.
“It was in the garage, I’m not sure why they had it on,” said McCormick.
“They are very safe if used properly, but they can burn at 500-600 degrees or more, so they are very dangerous too,” said Brad Crocker, of Crocker’s Ace Hardware in Le Roy.
While seen as generally safe, Crocker said there are several major mistakes homeowners make when it comes to installing or using existing wood burning stoves.
“It generally comes up to instillation and maintenance,” Crocker said.
He offered the following tips:
If installing a new wood burning stove, make sure there is at least three feet of clearance space around the stove. Also, there should be ample space for the chimney. Make sure to have the chimney cleaned before each heating season. Finally, pay attention to the stove when it is running.
