A building on the property of Bill and Hillary Clinton’s New York home caught on fire Wednesday afternoon, NBC News reports. According to NBC New York, the fire broke out in a detached garage behind the couple’s Chappaqua home around 2:40 p.m. and was extinguished by 3:15 p.m.
Flames began in the garage’s second floor and spread to the attic. In response to reports suggesting that the fire was very threatening, Hillary Clinton’s communication director Nick Merrill shared that the garage is used as a Secret Service facility and that the “small’ fire occurred when the Clintons were away.
This report is wrong, & creating much hysteria.
Yes, a small fire broke out in the @SecretService facility today on Clinton property, in a building not connected to their home. Fire was put out, local FD responded. The Clintons were not home.
All is ok!https://t.co/fXnbqtLb2K— Nick Merrill (@NickMerrill) January 3, 2018
Secret Service spokeswoman Cathy Miloun told NBC New York that a Secret Service employee called the local fire department. Others on the property turned to fire extinguishers to weaken the fire before firefighters arrived. The fire didn’t cause any visible damage, and the cause of flames was unknown as of Wednesday night.
The Clintons bought the property’s main home in 1999 and later purchased the building next door in 2016. The area affected by the fire is said to be an old barn where former President Bill Clinton wrote one of his books.
I’m glad that this fire didn’t harm anyone and that it was relatively contained!