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Chimney fire spreads briefly to house on Fish Hatchery Road

The Tupper Lake and Saranac Lake volunteer fire departments respond to a structure fire at 70 Fish Hatchery Road in Lake Clear Monday afternoon. The Paul Smiths-Gabriels Volunteer Fire Department also responded to the call. (Enterprise photo — Griffin Kelly)

LAKE CLEAR — Three volunteer fire departments responded to a fire on Fish Hatchery Road that took three hours to manage Monday afternoon.

The Tupper Lake Volunteer Fire Department responded first to the call at 70 Fish Hatchery Road at 1:08 p.m. The property is owned by Jay Dawson and doubles as his workshop, Major Pieces, where he makes Adirondack-themed furniture.

Tupper Lake Fire Engine Driver Mark Picerno said the fire started in the chimney and extended to the home but damaged only the chimney.

“We cleaned out the chimney flume and used water to douse the flames around the chimney,” he said in a phone interview Monday.

By 1:30 p.m. no flames or smoke were visible from the outside of the house. Firefighters were seen walking in and out of the property with extinguishers.

The Tupper Lake and Saranac Lake volunteer fire departments respond to a structure fire at 70 Fish Hatchery Road in Lake Clear Monday afternoon. The Paul Smiths-Gabriels Volunteer Fire Department also responded to the call. (Enterprise photo — Griffin Kelly)

Steve Light, who lives next door, said he started to notice smoke coming from the house around 1:15 p.m.

“I didn’t see any flames, but I saw some smoke coming from the far side of the house,” Light said. “I know he burns wood in there, but I don’t know if that had anything to do with it.”

Dawson could not be reached for comment by the time of publication.

The Saranac Lake and Paul Smiths-Gabriels volunteer fire departments provided mutual aid at the scene, and the Piercefield Fire Volunteer Fire Department stood by at the Tupper Lake firehouse. The Tupper Lake fire crew was back in service at 4:33 p.m.

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