No 911 call, no fire response: Monroe home burns to the ground
Police are investigating after a seasonal home in the Mountain Lodge area was destroyed by a fire that officials say went unreported for weeks.
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A home burned to the ground in a rural part of Monroe nearly three weeks ago, but fire officials say no one called to report it.
The house on Oakwood Trail North is in Mountain Lodge Park, a community built along the wooded slopes of Schunemunk Mountain. Today, the area is home to year-round residents, with small houses scattered along winding roads.
The property is on a narrow, heavily wooded dead-end road with other homes nearby.
Homeowner Richard Anglin says he was in New York City when the fire occurred and didn’t learn his home, which he uses seasonally, had been destroyed until someone went to the property and took a photograph of the remains.
Fire officials tell News 12 no one called to report the fire, and emergency crews never responded.
Blooming Grove police say they only recently became aware of the incident and have assigned a detective to investigate what happened.
Anglin’s attorney, Rory Brady, says the circumstances raise serious questions about how the fire started, how it was discovered and why emergency responders apparently weren’t notified.
“We are not interested in speculation or prematurely assigning blame. We are interested in a complete, independent investigation that establishes what occurred, whether criminal conduct was involved, and whether anyone failed to act when action was required,” Brady said.
The homeowner also alleges receiving threats before the fire, although authorities have not confirmed that information or said whether those allegations are connected to the incident.
The cause of the fire remains unknown.
