Fire guts ranch on Van Wie Terrace
The Enterprise — Elizabeth Floyd Mair
Firefighters tear through the roof to allow smoke to escape. They then sprayed water on remaining hot spots.
GUILDERLAND — Homeowner Judi Eells said early Saturday afternoon that she had no idea where she was going to sleep that night, as she watched firefighters cut away much of the roof of her home at 52 Van Wie Terrace in Westmere, to let smoke billow out.
Her main concern, Eells said, was for her husband Wayne Eells’s medication, since he had heart surgery earlier this year, she said. The medication had been inside the house when they left for church that morning, she said.
The loss of her home and possessions probably wouldn’t really hit her for a couple of days, she said.
She expressed gratitude to her neighbors — some of whom had been standing outside with her for more than an hour, offering support.
One neighbor, Judi Eells said, had hosed down her car, saving it from the flames. It had been in the driveway, right near the garage. That neighbor declined to give his name, saying only, “Good timing, good neighbor.”
Westmere Fire Chief Henry Smith said he wasn’t sure, but the one-story ranch looked to be a total loss.
He said the 9-1-1 call for a house fire had come in at 10:58 a.m. The caller had said there were cars in the driveway but that no one was answering the phone.
A ladder truck carries several firefighters onto the roof of 52 Van Wie Terrace in Westmere while another takes a moment to cool off.
When Smith arrived, he said, heavy black smoke was pouring from the eaves of the building, and he had immediately put out a Signal 30 call for additional crews and resources.
Smith’s first priority, he said, is always for life and safety. A Guilderland police officer had advised him that no one was inside, Smith said, and there was no sound of anyone or any pets inside. Flames were beginning to come up through the roof, he said.
At that point, he decided to have his crew do an exterior attack, Smith said, “which means we didn’t send anyone in.”
According to Albany County assessment rolls, the 1,050-square-foot home was built in 1958 and had a full-market value of $207,059.
Smith did not know how the fire had started, and said fire investigators were on the scene. He said he had been told by the dispatcher, whom he said had heard it from a Guilderland Police officer, that there was a heavy fire load around the garage area, but he did not know if that was where the fire had started.
Westmere Fire Chief Henry Smith, at right, shakes hands while overseeing the effort to fight a house fire Saturday at 52 Van Wie Terrace in Guilderland.
