There were no injuries. Neighbors initially saw just smoke coming from the inside -- and then a small propane tank exploded.
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A small flame lingers near what used to be the front entrance of a summer home on Tully Lake, as firefighters continue to work at the scene this afternoon on Hoffman Road in Tully. Tully, NY -- Firefighters are investigating the cause of a fire that today destroyed a summer house on Tully Lake that has been in the same family for generations.
Firefighters from eight departments responded to the fire at 282 Hoffman Road in Tully. No one was injured. The house was a total loss.
This afternoon, a two-story, red brick chimney stood over the charred remains of the home owned by Deborah Pittman of the Town of Sullivan and two of her cousins.
“It’s like somebody dying. You mourn for something like that. I didn’t think it would happen under our watch,” Pittman said.
She, her husband Nathan and their family had spent the afternoon raking leaves at the house, storing their kayak, canoe and small sailboat on the porch
The family had been gone an hour or two when neighbors called Onondaga County’s 911 center at 2:53 p.m. reporting smoke coming from the house.
The owner of the house next door at 288 Hoffman, Mark Williams, said he came out on to the porch of his home and saw smoke coming from the house next door.
A teen outside told him that firefighters had been called.
Suddenly, a small propane tank exploded "with a loud boom," Williams said. “The thing just went up like that,”.
The flames were so intense it melted the vinyl siding on a nearby house to the south owned by one of Pittman's cousins.
At one point, Williams said, he became concerned as flames began creeping across the lawn toward his home, which is on the north side of the Pittman home.
The house had already begun collapsing on itself by the time firefighters arrived, said Tully Fire Chief Mike Bradley.
“When I pulled up it was fully engulfed,” he said.
Nobody was inside the home, or injured fighting the fire, the chief said.
Firefighters were able to contain the flames to the one home, and to keep the fire from spreading to others, he said. It took about 20 minutes to knock down the fire, he said.
The cause of the fire is under investigation, Bradley said.
Firefighters from Tully, Preble, Apulia, Marcellus, Otisco, Amber, Homer and Lafayette’s ambulance responded to the fire. Water from the lake was brought in by tanker truck.
Pittman said her grandfather bought the house that has been a summer playground for her family and friends for generations. The house has been in her family since at least 1928, or possibly longer, Pittman said.
“Many people have enjoyed it here,” she said, trembling from nervousness as she watched firefighters pour water onto the home’s charred remains.
Pittman said she owns the home along with two cousins.
The family had finally replaced an old bathroom from the 1950s and installed new cabinets in the kitchen, she said.
“They say God works everything for good. Who knows? Something good will come out of it,” Pittman said.