FORT JACKSON — Doug Thomas was sitting inside his home Wednesday afternoon when his lights started flickering.

He called a friend with some electrical skills to come and investigate what was wrong.

That friend, Don Tebo of Hopkinton, said when he arrived at Mr. Thomas’s 482 County Route 51 residence, he discovered his friend’s home was on fire.

“He was still inside when I got there. I told him to get out,” Mr. Tebo said. “He said, ‘I need to get my dogs’ and I told him not to worry about the dogs.”

Fortunately, Mr. Thomas and his three dogs were able to escape the home, which St. Lawrence County Fire Investigator Brian Sullivan called a complete loss.

Standing outside his burning home, Mr. Thomas said he wasn’t going to let anything happen to his three pets.

“They tried to stop me from saving my dogs, but I wasn’t going to lose them too,” he said.

Mr. Thomas said he could see smoke, but he thought it was coming from his wood stove, not a fire in his home.

“I was walking out of the kitchen and I could see the smoke,” he said. “I wasn’t sure if it was my wood stove, obvisouly it wasn’t.”

Mr. Sullivan said Wednesday afternoon it was too early to tell exactly what caused the blaze, as he had yet to investigate the scene.

“All I know is the owner claims his lights were flickering before the fire,” Mr. Sullivan said.

Mr. Tebo said he received the call from Mr. Thompson early Wednesday afternoon.

“He told me he kept flipping the breaker, but it kept kicking off,” Mr. Tebo said.

Volunteers from Lawrenceville, Hopkinton-Fort Jackson, North Lawrence, Brasher-Winthrop, Nicholville, Parishville and Dickinson responded to the 12:35 p.m.call along with the Tri-Town Rescue Squad, New York State Police and National Grid.

The American Red Cross was also called to provide assistance to Mr. Thomas, who noted that his home was insured.

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