By Jeanne Sager
CALLICOON CENTER —February 25, 2003– Anthony Colletti just put new vinyl siding on his home and fixed it up, and now it’s gone.
A fire call went out in the early hours of Monday morning across western Sullivan County – there was a signal one structure fire on the Callicoon Center Road (County Route 125) – Colletti’s house.
Callicoon Center’s volunteer firefighters responded to the call around 1:15 a.m., followed shortly by members of seven other volunteer agencies – Jeffersonville, Youngsville, Hortonville, North Branch, Roscoe and Livingston Manor.
According to Callicoon Center Chief Jim Wilkerson, the freezing conditions made it tough to fight this fire – tankers were needed from the other departments to supply enough water to battle the blaze.
But the calm night helped the firemen protect the other houses on the block.
“I was glad the wind wasn’t blowing,” Wilkerson said. “It had been blowing earlier, and if it had still been blowing, we would have had a whole other story.
“Everything went straight up – the smoke, the flames – which worked out well,” he continued.
After two and a half hours, the two-story wood structure was standing, barely. The entire house was gutted, Wilkerson said.
No one was home at the time of the fire, he said, and the incident is still under investigation.
Fire investigators were on the scene Monday morning, but they’re still waiting for a chance to talk to Colletti.