VOORHEESVILLE — A Voorheesville man’s Krystal Lane home sustained severe fire damage on Wednesday afternoon, April 16. 

“When they got here, the roof was on fire. They knocked it down fast. Nobody was home. So everybody’s safe and sound, just property damage,” Thomas Cascone, Voorheesville’s fire chief, told the media at the scene. 

The owner, Eric Erkkinen, said on social media that it’s also likely he lost his pet cat, Fluffy. “I am completely devastated, as far as I know, [I] lost my best friend who has done nothing but love and trust me,” Erkkinen wrote. “The house could be rebuilt, even without insurance, but to lose my little buddy.  There are no words.”

A photo shared on Facebook by Erikkinen shows the full extent of the interior damage. 

The New Scotland assessment roll lists the property as having a full-market value of $120,000.

Erkkinen, who did not respond to a request for comment, wrote that he left the house for 45 minutes, “just to get food, was home sick and realized that two days had gone by without a meal, came back an hour later and my house and best friend Fluffy, were gone.”

A gofundme has been set for Erkkinen: https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-erics-recovery-from-house-fire