Celebrity chef Rachael Ray, her husband John Cusimano, mother Elsa Scuderi and dog Bella Boo were injured after a fireplace exploded in their home in upstate New York on Sunday night.
Ray spoke on social media Monday morning, thanking “the first to respond locally for their kindness and courtesy and for saving what they might from our home.”
The celebrated 51-year-old cook added that her cell phone lost one of the pieces in the fireplace and exhibited it “through a team member.”
He added: “I am grateful to my mother, to my husband, with my dog Array … that everything is fine. These days, we will all have to be grateful for what we have, not for what we have lost.”
Firefighters rushed to Lake Luzerne in Ray, New York, on Chuckwagon Trail, about an hour north of Albany, around 8 p.m. Sunday to fight the fire. There were no injuries.
Despite flames coming through the chimney roof, Warren County fire coordinator Brian LaFlure told USA TODAY on Tuesday that Ray’s high-end kitchen had moved away from the chimney damage.
Ray filmed episodes of the “Rachael Ray Show” in the kitchen of COVID-19’s pandemic space, preparing food with her husband (and a cameraman at home).
“The chimney site gave the impression of starting in the roof domain and went down to the floor of the moment, but the first ground did not suffer any damage to the chimney site,” LaFlure said. “There was water damage and objects fell. But the first ground is in good condition. They have a lot of paints to do first, but at least it’s not damaged.”
“Obviously, your space is damaged. But they all came out unscathed, that’s the ultimate, and no firefighter was hurt,” LaFlure said.
On Monday, state chimney investigators were at the scene assessing the potential cause.
William McGovern, a chimney research leader for the state’s Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Services, said it will probably take a week or two before the state takes a final resolution on the case.
McGovern said he had a quick estimate of the damage load, but showed that significant damage had been done to the roof assembly, where the chimney would have been lit.
“We’ll treat this case like we would any chimney,” McGovern said at a news convention Monday. “There’s a methodical procedure we have to follow to read about the scene, interview the witnesses and where the chimney started, and then we can take a look at the possible causes.”
Ray was born near Glen Falls and graduated from Lake George High School in 1986. She has owned the space since 2013 and filmed episodes of “Rachael Ray Show” in the house kitchen about the COVID-19 pandemic.
“There’s not a lot of hair and makeup here, so I think we’ve established another kind of intimacy with our audience and, honestly, it feels good,” Ray told WNYT-TV in Albany on May 1, adding that she had been updated at home to allow Zoom broadcasts with the show’s guests.
In a space before this year, Ray said he had designed the space and had “worked 35 years” to get the fuel stove and pizza oven of his dreams. The open kitchen includes a giant kitchen block and ‘The Avenger’, an advertising dishwasher.
Hours before the fire, Ray shared Instagram images of elaborate dishes, adding submarines with a smoked filet mignon, which were enjoyed at dinner. On Monday, Ray added an Instagram photo of a Bella Boo at ease with the caption “safe and sound.”
LaFlure said firefighters were hampered by the rural area, which had no fire hydrants.
“We’ve done everything we can, it’s a rural and complicated area,” he said. “It took us a little while to get the tanker trucks to bring the water and we had to save what we could.”
Contributor: Jon Campbell