Space Heater Blamed in Fire that Destroyed Wesley Hills Home

A large home in a quiet Wesley Hills neighborhood was destroyed by a fire this morning that started with a space heater and was made worse by an apparent delay in calling 911 to report the fire, according to fire officials.

Hilcrest Fire Chief Kim Weppler said two volunteer firefighters were injured in the 9:30 a.m. fire at 6 Cottonwood Lane and a resident of the home sustained burns from her efforts to put out the fire in her daughter's room. The resident, Ronit Gevins, was taken to Good Samaritan Hospital in Suffern for treatment.

Weppler said one Hillcrest firefighter was treated at the scene of the fire for heat exhaustion and a Tallman firefighter was taken to Good Samaritan for treatment of smoke inhalation.

The fire was still under investigation this afternoon and officials were piecing together the timeline of events in the fire. Weppler said it appears there was a delay in reporting the fire to 911 and that when police and firefighters arrived at the house it was already engulfed by flames that were shooting through the roof.

Gevins and her daughter, Emily, escaped from the house on their own. Gevins' husband, Robert, was not at home when the fire broke out, Weppler said.

Rockland County Fire and Emergencies Services Director Gordon Wren Jr., who is also a Hillcrest firefighter, said firefighters and police responded quickly when they were alerted to the fire by residents of a neighboring home. Wren said a Ramapo police officer was nearby on traffic enforcement duty when the fire call was received.

Weppler said the fire appears to have started with a space heater that came in contact with a pillow. Weppler said Emily Gevins was awakened by smoke in her room and then rushed to wake up her mother.

Ronit Gevins tried to put the fire out and was burned in the process, Weppler said.

The fire spread to the attic of the three-story home and destroyed the entire upper floor, which has several bedrooms and a home office.

As firefighters battled the blaze for the next three hours, Weppler and Wren said they and investigators were attempting to determine why the fire was so far advanced by the time they arrived. Wren said the home had a built in alarm system with a monitoring service, and that investigators are checking into how the alarm was processed and when a call was made to Rockland County's 911 system.

Wren confirmed that the alarm company did contact 911 about the fire.