Condo fire under investigation

MONROE - Mary McShane picked up her mail at the entrance to her Timber Hills complex off Reed Road at 5:10 p.m. Tuesday, and drove to her condo. As she sat down to open her mail, she saw clouds of smoke outside. She opened her front door, heard two loud explosions and then saw flames shooting from the bushes in front of her neighbor's house across the way. She immediately called 911. Already the flames were wrapping around the side of the McGee Court condo. "The owner came running out in her bare feet with her cousin in tow," McShane said. "She said she saw the bushes on fire and then they just went up in flames." What remained Wednesday looked vaguely familiar to the scenes from the destruction caused by Hurricane Katrina: Blue tarp blanketed the entire length of the roof; insulation, pipes and siding were strewn about; once full bushes were now stalks burnt to a crisp. "It was very peaceful when I came home," McShane said. "All this happened in a matter of seconds." Next-door neighbors, the Cirafici's, were glad that nobody got hurt. The couple credited the quick response by the village police and fire department. "We were evacuated immediately. They all did a great job - they were fast on the ball." Gloria Imondi, whose unit was next door to the destroyed condo, spent Wednesday afternoon with a realtor, looking for a place to stay. Her home sustained fire damage. Sandra and Edward Angrisni are staying at a Harriman hotel. "We don't have any family in the area," said Sandra. "The neighbors here have been fantastic. One neighbor brought over a case of water." When asked if there are any items in particular they need, she said, "I don't even know. I'm still in shock. I even left my pocketbook in the house because I thought I was going back. All we have are the clothes on our back that we just bought in Wal-Mart. " Mombasha Fire Chief Jeff Mahran said two other condo units had smoke and water damage. The chief, who had just returned from a relief and rescue mission with the Regional Tactical Team in Louisiana two hours earlier, said when he got to the scene, "the front of the building was fully engulfed in flames and was pushing across the common attic." It was 9:30 p.m. before fire crews from Harriman, Lakeside, Woodbury, South Blooming Grove, Washingtonville and Salisbury Mills were able to leave the scene. The Chester Fire Company was on stand-by. This was the third fire within this complex over the last several years and the second on McGee Court. The fire is under investigation by Orange County Fire Investigators and the Monroe Police Department. Monroe Detective James Frankild said the arson investigator believes at this time the fire was started by a cigarette in the mulch area in front of the home. The investigators attribute the explosions, or loud firecracker noise, that witnesses say they heard, to a banging noise caused by the intense heat on the double-paned windows.