Fire Breaks Out at Orange Home

Orange — A fire that broke out in the utility room of a small, energy efficient home atop a hill on the Orange/Grafton townline caused upwards of $5,000 in damages, fire officials said.

Grafton Fire Chief John Babiarz said the exact cause of the Wednesday afternoon fire is unknown. The home has no commercial electricity running to it, but something may have malfunctioned with on-site solar energy, Babiarz said.

The Grafton, Canaan and Danbury fire departments responded to the first-alarm blaze around 12:50 p.m. When they arrived, Babiarz said there was smoke and flames coming out of a front window of the home, which sits at the end of a steep, windy dirt driveway.

“We used a rapid attack technique and we’re able to knock it down quickly,” Babiarz said.

Leon Dugan, the homeowner’s brother, said he went to the Razor Hill Road property on Wednesday afternoon to mow when he noticed fire coming from the structure. He ran to a nearby home to call for help, and then returned to throw water on the fire until firefighters arrived.

He said his brother, Cody Dugan, wasn’t yet living in the home that he started building 2 ½ years ago. Fortunately, the house is repairable, Leon Dugan said. There was no insurance on it yet.

The home was near completion.

“(It’s) just sad,” Leon Dugan said.

Jordan Cuddemi can be reached at jcuddemi@vnews.com or 603-727-3248.