Crime & Safety

Rock Star Ace Frehley's Yorktown Home Destroyed by Fire

Firefighters from multiple fire departments battled a blaze that destroyed former rock star Ace Frehley's home on Spring Valley Road in Yorktown late Saturday morning. 

The fire at 1347 Spring Valley Road was reported at 11 a.m. on Dec. 14. It has been ruled as accidental and caused by electrical wires in the back of the first floor of the house, Yorktown Heights Fire Chief Chet Swirski said. 

"We couldn't attack [the fire] very well because of the masonry walls and the lack of windows," Swirski told Patch.

When firefighters got to the scene there was heavy smoke coming through the roof. It wasn't until firefighters got to the doors that they saw heavy fire inside the home.

Swirski said there were no windows or they were cemented at some point because the house was once used as a recording studio by Ace Frehley, former guitarist for KISS.

There were no reported injuries, Swirski said. 

One man, believed to be a caregiver, was not home at the time of the fire. Red Cross spokesperson Carolyn Sherwin told Patch the man was being take care of and provided with emergency lodging, food and clothes.

Frehley issued a statement on his Facebook page regarding the fire.

"An electrical fire was caused by a tree falling on the wires in the backyard and shorting out the fuse box which in turn heated up the internal wiring in the walls and started the fire," he said. "I'm very thankful that no one was hurt! The fire department and police did a great job, and I'm very grateful to them for all of their help and courage in this matter...job well done!"

Frehley, whose real name is Paul Frehley, has been fighting a foreclosure action on his Yorktown home. In February, U.S. Bank National Association claimed that on March 1, 2011, Frehley stopped making payments on his $735,000 mortgage

Yorktown firefighters described on their Facebook page that the home was a "modified barn type structure" located on a tight road between Grants Lane and Route 134.

"The inclement weather conditions as well as building construction characteristics and modifications that had been made to this structure made extinguishing this fire no easy task for our firefighters that operated on the scene," they wrote. "We are thankful no injures to either civilian or fire personal occurred at this incident."

A total of 75 firefighters were on the scene, including firefighters from Millwood, Ossining FAST, Croton, Somers, Pocantico Hills and Katonah. Firefighters from Mt. Kisco and Thornwood provided help during the overhaul. Also on scene were Yorktown Volunteer Ambulance members. 


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