Last month, we reported that celebrity chef Rachael Ray’s home in upstate New York had burned down in a devastating fire. Now, Ray has posted video footage showing her fans the aftermath of this tragic fire.
Ray took to Instagram to share footage of what is left of her home in Lake Luzerne after a fire ripped through it on August 8.
“On Monday 9/14 — Rachael shares never-seen-before personal footage of the damage done to her home after a fire broke out last month. You don’t want to miss this emotional episode,” read the caption of the video, which was posted to Ray’s Instagram page.
“This was our bedroom, and our library. And that was our bathroom and our dressing area,” Ray said in the video. “The home’s bones are barely standing in some parts.”
Ray; her husband, John Cusimano; and their dog, Bella, were thankfully not harmed in the fire. However, the 51 year-old chef added that she lost “15 years of memories; 40 years of notebooks, drawing, thoughts, my life’s work.”
Ray went on to describe “the few weeks since it burned, I think I’ve learned even more. Today, we’re going to share what’s left of our home.”
After the fire, Ray made a point of thanking the first responders.
“Thank you to our local first responders for being kind and gracious and saving what they could of our home. Grateful that my mom, my husband, my dog… we’re all okay. These are the days we all have to be grateful for what we have, not what we’ve lost,” she wrote. “…I *did* lose my phone (posting through a team member) Thank you for all the well wishes, concern and outreach, but can’t return texts and calls at the moment…!”
Investigators have concluded that the fire was accidental and started in the fireplace chimney. The state Office of Fire Prevention and Control confirmed that the fire sent flames through the roof of the home, which is located at the end of a private drive in a rural area about 60 miles north of Albany.
Ray is best known for hosting a variety of cooking shows as well as her own syndicated lifestyle talk show, “Rachael Ray.”
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