State Fire Marshal Called in To Investigate Sears Lane Fire

The state fire marshal today is investigating a blaze at a waterfront property on Lake Pocotopaug that destroyed a home at 13 Sears Lane.

The fire started around 6:30 p.m. and crews from numerous local towns, including Marlborough, Colchester, Portland and Haddam Neck responded to it.

No one was at home at the time of the fire and no one was injured in the blaze, police said. The state fire marshal was called in to determine the cause.

An East Hampton officer was at the site Saturday morning, safeguarding it from curiousity seekers until the state fire marshal arrived.

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Caroline Aubin, whose family owns the home next door at 15 Sears Lane, said the intense fire, which reduced the home to rubble and could be seen from just about everywhere around the 500-acre lake, was fueled in part by a propane tank that exploded.

She said fire officials who arrived first on the scene reported seeing the blaze inside the home through a window. She said it moved quickly through the house and up through its roof.

One side of the home at 15 Sears Lane, which sits several hundred feet away, was damaged from the heat of the heat of the blaze. The house' siding was melted off.

Firefighters who responded to the blaze closed off North Main Street on Friday night to clear the area for emergency vehicles to stage. The road was closed at its intersection with Route 66 and motorists were detoured up Route 66 to Staeth Road. Those traveling up Lake Drive to North Main Street were turned around near the Lakehouse Restaurant.