‘Suspicious’ Stark fire under investigation by Janine Giordano

STARKVILLE – Officials are investigating a barn fire in the hamlet of Starkville that occurred just after midnight early Friday morning.

The barn belongs to Richard Whritenour and his wife, Denise Como, a town council candidate in the town of Stark.

According to Robert Vandawalker, director of emergency management in Herkimer County, “at this point we’re still sorting out the details. No determination has been made as to whether or not it is arson or who, if anyone, caused it. It is being treated as suspicious at this point. To say it is being treated as arson is not a correct statement.”

The approximately 30 by 40 foot barn had remained empty, Como said, since she and her husband purchased the house a few years ago. “I’m (angry). I loved my little barn. My daughter and I were going to open a coffee and tea shop and used book store,” she said.

Como said that around midnight her dog, Willow, began barking frantically, which alerted Como to a vehicle idling outside. She heard a door slam and the vehicle drove off. Shortly after this, all seven of her dogs began barking near the front of the house. She opened the front door “and saw the barn engulfed in flames,” she said.

The Van Hornesville Fire Department “was very efficient. They kept the fire contained until they could get close enough to put it out,” Como said. Despite their efforts, there was nothing they could do to save the structure. “They basically just had to watch it burn out,” said Como. Nothing but the framework is left.

While she spoke with the fire chief, Como said she noticed that one of three campaign signs she had put up a few hours earlier were missing. She mentioned this to the chief who went and inspected the area the signs had been displayed. When it was determined all three signs were missing, she called the state police.

The next day, she noticed gas cans she had filled the day before were also missing from her storage shed, which is located near where the old barn stood.

Thursday had been spent working on the yard, mowing, which is why Como said she had filled the gas containers. By the time she finished mowing and was about to put the signs up, it was near 7 p.m. and her running mate, Sue Brander, who is running for town supervisor, came and collected her for some campaigning.

She arrived home too late to eat dinner so she made some popcorn, which she burnt. It was about 10 p.m., she noted. At 10:30, she brought the burnt popcorn bag to the dumpster, which is located next to the barn.

At that time, she decided to put up the campaign signs which she didn’t get to earlier after her mowing was complete. “It took about 15 minutes,” she said. The signs displayed information about her and her fellow board candidate Steve Reichenbach, about town superintendent candidate Sue Brander and about the highway candidate, Ron Douglas.

The four are vying for two town council positions held by Ann Miller, Tom Puskarenko and Richard Bronner’s supervisor position. The highway superintendent seat is currently held by Tony Greschek Jr.

Como and her running mates are concerned the fire may have been started by someone or by people who do not want them to be elected to the board.

“The fire is under investigation,” said town supervisor Richard Bronner. “And until details are known I would hope people would not react in that manner. Too many people have too much to lose. I would hope no one would overreact. Let’s find out what happened first.”