Flames destroy Hurricane Mtn. pottery studio

A fire ripped through an art studio in Keene on Sunday morning, leaving one building destroyed and two buildings damaged. There were no injuries, according to Essex County Emergency Services Deputy Director Donald Jaquish, who said that his office is continuing to investigate the cause of the blaze at the studio, called Hurricane Mountain A Center for Earth Arts.

“It’s accidental in nature,” said Jaquish. The fire began in the pottery kiln building, Jaquish said, which houses a wood-fired kiln, two electric kilns and a propane-fueled kiln. An artist went into the downstairs area of the building shortly after 5 a.m., only to find that one of the kilns, normally located on the second story, had fallen through the floor. She then called the 911 dispatch in Elizabethtown after seeing flames downstairs and smoke on the second floor.
“When the fire department got there, it was completely involved,” Jaquish said. The art studio, co-owned by Paul Nowicki and Barbar Tam, is insured, Jaquish said.

Six regional fire departments responded to the scene, including Keene Valley, Keene, Upper Jay, Wilmington, Jay and Lake Placid. The fire rekindled later in the day, though only the Keene and Keene Valley departments responded.

—online posting by Geoff Hayward, Adirondack Daily Enterprise, February 13