Rachael Ray’s Kitchen Still Standing, as Home Burns Down in Fiery Blaze

Celebrity chef Rachel Ray lost her home in a massive fire on Sunday night, though ironically, her state-of-the-art kitchen survived the blaze. 

Most of Ray’s massive upstate New York mansion was destroyed when flames rapidly engulfed her home early Sunday evening. Fortunately, she escaped unscathed with her husband, John Cusimano, her mother, and the family dog Bella Boo Blue.  

Ray tweeted her thanks to first responders, appreciative that her family made it out okay and that they saved what they could of her home. “These are the days we have to be grateful for what we have, not what we’ve lost.” 

The fire quickly spread through the remote Lake Luzerne property, which took 70 volunteer firefighters almost two hours to put out.  According to Warren County fire coordinator Brian LaFlure, “The big problem was getting water to the scene. We are a rural area, there are no fire hydrants and that’s the way it is.”

Fire trucks only hold 1,500 to 2,000 gallons of water, so firefighters resorted to draining water from Ray’s pond, and when that ran dry, pumped water in from a nearby lake. LaFlure reported that the house had no sprinkler system, which could have helped control the intensity of the fire.  

The cause is unknown, but suspicious activity is not suspected. Investigators were on scene Monday to search for clues as to what set the home ablaze. 

LaFlure commented that the fire could have been devastating if it had happened when the couple was asleep. “It could have been substantially worse. They were very fortunate.”  

Ray, who designed the house herself, has been filming her daytime talk show from her home kitchen, which the fire left miraculously unmarked.  

Here’s the most recent video Rachel filmed in her kitchen.

Rachel’s new puppy, Bella Boo Blue, made it out of the fire safely.

The couple adopted her this summer.

View this post on Instagram

Bella Boo blankie ? Take a close look ? Her snuggle mate is a pita.

A post shared by Rachael Ray (@rachaelray) on Jul 15, 2020 at 9:59am PDT

Rachel gives a tour of the outside of her home. 

Here’s a full tour of the state-of-the-art kitchen.

In happier times, Rachel and husband John told the story of their first date during a kitchen interview.

Photos of the devastating fire.

Fire rips through Rachel Ray’s New York State home. She was there with her husband and dog, all escaped uninjured. pic.twitter.com/ugA9jXaIRC

— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) August 10, 2020

According to Ray’s last Instagram post, her family’s okay.

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Safe and sound.

A post shared by Rachael Ray (@rachaelray) on Aug 10, 2020 at 4:42pm PDT

Marie Finn