By MARGIE TRAX PAGE - Staff Writer - mtrax@starbeacon.com
GENEVA — Jeff and Tiffani Foss were playing with their 5-year-old daughter, Angelena, Monday afternoon when they heard an urgent knock at the front door.
“My neighbor said, ‘Your house is on fire! There is smoke out here,’” Jeff Foss said. “We had no idea. There was no smell inside and the smoke detectors never rang.”
Smoke poured from the gable of the house at 729 Eastlawn St., even as Foss emptied two fire extinguishers into the wall of the upstairs bedroom.
“My neighbor brought a third fire extinguisher and we used it. The firefighters got here just as it ran out,” Jeff Foss said. “We ran for the door and all we thought about was the (pets).”
The Fosses son, John, will turn 2 this week. He was not home at the time of the fire.
“I ran to my son’s bedroom and all I could see was a hole where the outlet should have been. I guess we didn’t smell the smoke because it was all blowing out the gable,” he said.
The Fosses grabbed Angelena and their pets and stood in the driveway as firefighters broke windows and carefully climbed the ladder truck extension to ventilate the roof. Smoke poured from the attic vent and seeped out of the window frames as flames shot from the roof point.
“I just can’t believe this. Everything is ruined,” Tiffani Foss said. “This is unbelievable.”
No one was injured in the fire and the Geneva Fire Department received mutual aid from Saybrook and Harpersfield township fire departments with medical assistance by Northwest Ambulance District.
Firefighter Dale Arkenburg said the fire originated in the chimney where the Fosses had a fire going.
“This fire spread fast. We arrived to a working fire from a bedroom wall to the attic and all the spaces in between,” Arkenburg said. “We had to break through walls and the ceiling and the roof to get to the flames. Fire and smoke damage was extensive in three rooms and there was water damage throughout.”
Arkenburg said the house is a total loss and estimates damages at $100,000.
“There were a lot of salvageable belongings,” Arkenburg said. “But in interior of the house is a mess.”
During the fire, neighbors surrounded Jeff and Tiffani Foss, bringing a blanket for Tiffani and embracing her in strong hugs as she stood in the snow.
“We don’t know what happens next, but we have homeowner’s insurance and we have family for support,” Jeff Foss said. “This isn’t what you expect out of a quiet day at home. This isn’t what you expect out of any day.”
