RODMAN — A County Route 155 couple were sent to the hospital early Sunday after a fire leveled their home and destroyed the family’s slaughterhouse business on the property.
Owners Gordon and Sherry Ann Worden both suffered smoke inhalation and Mr. Worden suffered burns on his head after the fast-spreading fire at 12485 County Route 155 began around 4 a.m. They were taken by ambulance to Samaritan Medical Center, Watertown, where they remained in stable condition on Sunday afternoon.
Their daughter and son-in-law and three grandchildren escaped unharmed, said Mr. Worden’s sister, Kathy H. Burnham, who lives next door.
A dog died in the blaze. The family got out of the house through a back door.
“Everything is gone,” Mrs. Burnham said. “It makes me sick because he’s worked so hard all of his life.”
All that was left of the 1½-story A-framed house was a charred mess, while the nearby building that housed Toad Hollow Custom Cuttings still stands but fire officials consider it a total loss.
Rodman Fire Chief David Sischo said the fire started in the house and spread to the business. The house was already engulfed before firefighters from six volunteer departments arrived.
“It had a real good head start,” the fire chief said.
Jefferson County fire investigators have not determined a cause or where it started because so much of the house was destroyed, Chief Sischo said. It took about an hour to get the blaze under control and firefighters were at the scene for more than three hours.
The property was insured.
The daughter’s family is staying at a relative’s cottage in Sackets Harbor.
Mr. Worden has lived on the property all of his life and built the house and business “from scratch” more than 20 years ago, his sister said.
The American Red Cross will be coming to the family’s aid, Mrs. Burnham said. Because the family escaped with only the clothes on their backs, relatives are asking people to donate items to the displaced family.
Donors can drop off the items at Mrs. Burnham’s home at 12790 County Route 155 or contact Shianne Burnham at 583-5853.
Fire departments from Adams, Adams Center, Belleville, Lorraine, Smithville, and the town of Watertown also responded to the scene.
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