Fire ravages historic home at Braidlea Farm Way

WILLSBORO | Fire tore into a century-old summer residence at 35 Braidlea Farm Way on Monday, heavily damaging the historic mansion. Willsboro Volunteer Fire Department Chief John Cross led the fire response that involved 15 fire companies and nearly 100 firefighters from around Essex and southern Clinton counties. Smoke was billowing from the mid-section of the three-story gabled residence when Chief Cross arrived at around 4:40 p.m. "When I first got on scene and saw the amount of smoke, I called Keeseville Fire for their aerial truck," Cross said. Mutual aid brought in teams from every nearby fire department. Cross said occupants in the house placed the call and safely got out of the burning building. A hot July afternoon, the air temperature Monday afternoon reached 95 degrees. And Cross knew rotations to fight the blaze would need a large number of fire personnel and support. "Keeseville was the first aerial on scene. Two or so hours into it, we called in South Plattsburgh Fire Department for their aerial truck," he said. In addition to Willsboro, Keeseville and South Plattsburgh, volunteer fire departments brought in firefighters, emergency medical staff, apparatus and support from Essex County Emergency Services, Essex, Whallonsburg, Reber, Lewis, Westport, Wadhams, Moriah, AuSable Forks and Peru with stand-by crews from Wilmington and Elizabethtown. Lake Placid had an ambulance on scene. "It started in the middle of the structure. All the fire was in the attic and below. There was no fire on the first floor," Cross said. The chief isn't sure if the property is salvageable due to significant fire and water damage and entry cuts made to the shingle roof. But firefighters did mount an interior attack hoping to save portions of the historic structure. "The first crew went through the window on the second floor and then we sent crews up the stairways," Cross said. Willsboro's fire company had assessed the the Braidlea Farm Way mansion in planning drills, Cross said. "We had walked through the building. We pre-planned a response to the house. It has a lot of rooms inside, and there are a lot of hallways, stairwells, cubby holes. It was all made with lathe and plaster." The detailed layout and many rooms made it tough to find hot spots once the initial fire source was out. In all, fire companies spent seven hours beating back the complex blaze. "When I left around midnight or so, the county guys were investigating possible cause and origin," Cross said. Fire investigators have not yet determined cause and origin. One firefighter was transported by ambulance to the University of Vermont Health Network, Elizabethtown Community Hospital for possible dehydration, Cross said. "He's okay now." Logistics included health checks for firefighters as they rotated in and out of the building with EMTs monitoring vital signs for dehydration, heat stroke or other hot weather related conditions. "We had the Essex County rehabilitation trailer there as well as South Plattsburgh's rehabilitation trailer along with multiple ambulances," Cross said. "As they came out of the building they went to rehab, and the next group went in. We had four or five groups, between 50 to 100 firefighters altogether." TANKER RELAY Without hydrants connected to a town system in Essex or Willsboro, fire response logistics required a tanker relay set up initially at Beggs Point on Lake Champlain with a second water-pumping site at the Essex Ferry Dock. The fire scene was about a mile north of the historic hamlet in Essex, just over the town line in Willsboro. Whallonsburg Fire Chief Kyle Wrisley led the tanker relay from Beggs Point. "We had six guys from Whallonsburg run a tanker operation and guys working the pumper at the fill site. Westport Fire set up at the ferry dock. We had two engines filling trucks," Wrisley said. The relay system kept portable ponds filled at the fire scene. Crews used an enormous amount of water. "At one point I said we must have dropped the lake level a foot. Each truck did at least three rounds even at my site," Wrisley said. Ambulances are a critical part of the response team, Wrisley said. "A firefighter might have 30 minutes on a bottle (Scott Air Pack) so you're going to be dehydrated and exhausted. And it was a very hot day. Really, you only go in a couple times, that is why there were so many guys and so many rotations. With the smoke and the heat, it's interior and it's dangerous." Essex Supervisor Ken Hughes said the back of the mansion looks largely intact, but the structure, owned by Braidlea Farms LP, Richard and Deb Walker, has significant damage. "I'm incredibly grateful to not just Willsboro, Essex and Whallonsburg fire departments, but also to our neighbors from all around the region who came to fight this fire," Hughes said. "They're all volunteers and they came from all over. The coordination was awe inspiring. I was super impressed by the water trucks and the mutual aid. That was a big, big deal." Fire Auxiliary members spent hours bringing bottled water and Gatorade up to the fire, Hughes said. "It took multiple communities and all hands to fight that fire." Chief Cross said the response was excellent. "We had a good turnout, mutual aid worked out, couldn't have asked for anything better. Mutual aid is a wonderful thing," Cross said. With all-volunteer first responders, there are many jobs involved in such an effort. And volunteers are always welcome at all area fire companies, Wrisley said. "There's a job for everybody, from driving the trucks, to fire police, to office work and everything else that people forget about. Everybody there was volunteer. "This is a good time to remind everyone to check their smoke detectors, check their fire extinguishers. Having that personal safety in your own home is very important. That will save lives and property." Essex County Real Property parcel details indicate Braidlea Farms property is the assessed at $1.7 million. Chief Cross said the structure encompassed nearly 8,500 square feet. HISTORIC SUMMER HOME, MONASTERY The mansion at Braidlea Farm Way is currently a private residence. It was originally designed as a summer home, later becoming a well respected working dairy farm and then an Oblate monastery. It was first built in 1900 for D. Crawford Clark and his wife, Zerlina Keyser Clark, in 1900 by the Branch & Callanan contractors and builders of Saranac Lake and Keene. Clark was the son-in-law of Samuel Keyser, of New York City, a dry goods merchant who first came to Essex in 1885. Keyser owned the James B. Ross house in Essex, which he called "Faulderwood." He also owned the "Block House" lot, site of Essex County's Court House and county buildings, which were first placed in the Town of Essex. May 1900 news reports said Mr. and Mrs. (Zerlina) D. Crawford Clark stayed at her parents' home (Faulderwood) while their large summer residence was being built. They moved in in July 1900. Keyser and his son-in-law ran a steam yacht, the Kestrel, on Lake Champlain from the Essex docks. Braidlea Farm was sold to the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, a Catholic Order of priests, in September 1933, according to historic records. The building was used for religious and scholastic work. And a shrine honoring Mary Immaculate was built in a grove some distance behind the building. The Oblates called the property Dontenwill Notiviate and made significant renovations in 1934. David C. Hislop has included historic information about the mansion in his book Essex on Lake Champlain. "The Oblates sold it to the current owners, the Camaliers. Dick and Deb Walker are in the Camalier family," Hislop said.

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Fire ravages historic home at Braidlea Farm Way

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