SKINNER’S FALLS – Eighty-two-year-old Floarea Vladu was fast asleep last Friday morning when she was suddenly awakened at 12:30 a.m. by the sound of footsteps in her house.

She listened intently as she heard people walking inside the house, spilling liquid in the hallways.

She could smell gasoline but she was so scared she hid and didn’t leave the house.

A fire started to burn and soon Floarea “couldn’t stand the smoke anymore” and left to summon help, this, all according to her granddaughter, Sabrina Heltzel.

That early morning fire on Friday completely destroyed the Vladu family home at 14 Skinner’s Falls West Rd. in the Town of Cochecton.

The initial call to Lake Huntington Fire Dept. came in at 2:20 a.m. and soon firemen and apparatus from eight fire companies were on scene for nearly five hours, having to tanker in water on the narrow, one-lane, dead-end road.

Lake Huntington, Callicoon, Hortonville, Narrowsburg, White Lake, Kauneonga Lake, Lava, Welcome Lake, PA and Beach Lake, PA fire departments all responded to the fire with Jeffersonville and Yulan on stand-by, county officials said.

In addition the Cochecton Ambulance Corps, Bethel Ambulance Corps and Sullivan County’s new “Fly Car” also responded.

“When the firemen arrived the two-and-a-half story structure was fully engulfed,” Sullivan County Director of Communications Dan Hust said. “The single occupant got out safely and was taken to Garnet Hospital for evaluation. The fire is currently under investigation by the Sheriff’s Office and Bureau of Fire.”

Sullivan County Undersheriff Eric Chaboty confirmed that fire investigators are working hard to determine the exact cause of the fire and that Sheriff Deputies were on the scene to interview the neighbors.

The Sullivan County Sheriff’s Department arrived on scene Friday morning to inspect the burned building with their drone, assisting in trying to determine a cause.

Residents of Narrowsburg said they could smell the smoke, five miles away and another neighbor on Skinner’s Falls Rd. said he smelled smoke but, “I just thought someone had started their woodstove to stay warm.”

The building had some historical significance, once serving as the Lenape Tavern in the 1970s and later was known as the Black Horse Inn. It was owned and operated by the Lander family.

“We were the last ones to have a mirror ball [hanging in the dance hall],” Rick Lander said Friday morning.

Situated fast along the former Erie Railroad tracks, the two-and-a-half-story wood frame building was a local landmark for nearly three decades.

It was later converted to a residence, and for nearly two decades, Gabriel and Floarea Vladu lived there.  Mrs. Vladu was taken to the hospital for smoke inhalation, but was expected to be released on Friday.

Mr. Vladu was on a trip to Romania to visit family. The Vladu’s pet dog, Rocco, is believed to have perished in the fire.

Relatives from Virginia were enroute to Sullivan County on Friday to help Mrs. Vladu.