A summer cottage burned to the ground Sunday evening at Elk Lake, Clinton Township. Thankfully, the home’s four occupants were not in the building at the time, said Browndale Assistant Fire Chief Ron Richards. The two-story cottage is owned by Charlotte Iori of Elmhurst, Lackawanna County.
The Assistant Chief says they were toned out around 7:45 p.m. for a fully involved structure fire at 33 Lizzy Lane. He said Mrs. Iori was outside the cottage when the fire started and that a neighbor saw the smoke. Richards says the dad (name not given) was planning to take a nap, but his son convinced him to go fishing. “They couldn’t have been on the lake more than five or 10 minutes,” he said, when the fire erupted. Kevin Barnas, the Iori’s next door neighbor as well as a volunteer fire fighters with Browndale, raced up the stairs with a garden hose, to check if anyone was on the second floor. There was some confusion as to where the home’s occupants were, Richards said. “No one could confirm everyone was out.”
About 50 fire fighters responded, from Browndale, Waymart, Forest City, Prompton, Honesdale, Seelyville, Vandling, and Mayfield. Waymart Volunteer Ambulance was also on scene. Richards says it was about an hour-and-a-half before the fire was fully extinguished. He says a cottage to the right was also damaged, where the flames melted the siding, but that home was saved.
No word on what started the blaze, though it doesn’t appear suspicious, Richards said.
