Cicero family displaced after late-night fire destroys home and garage

A Cicero family of four was left without a home late Saturday night after fire tore through an attached garage and spread into the connected house, Cicero Fire Chief Jim Perrin said. Two adults and two teenagers were getting help from the American Red Cross as they tried to figure out where to sleep, what to keep, and how to move through the next 24 to 72 hours after the loss.

Perrin said the garage burned before the fire pushed into the house, turning what began as a structure fire into a full household displacement. In a matter of minutes, the family lost not just a building but the routines that come with it: clothing, school materials, transportation, medications, and the records and belongings that often have to be replaced one by one after a total-loss fire.

The emergency also puts the family into the fast-moving process that follows major residential fires in Onondaga County. Temporary housing has to be arranged first, often before insurance questions can be resolved. School and childcare decisions follow close behind, especially when two teenagers are involved and daily schedules change without warning. The Red Cross response gives the family an immediate bridge, but rebuilding will likely depend on insurance, damage assessments, and whatever help the household can line up from relatives, neighbors, and emergency agencies.

The Cicero Fire Department is led by Perrin and operates from 8377 Brewerton Road and 6109 State Route 31 East. Its stated mission includes compassionate emergency response, public education outreach, and preventing loss of life and property, a reminder that local fire crews are not only answering alarms but also trying to stop the next one. In a town where recent fire coverage has included other serious house fires, including displacement cases and fatal incidents, that work carries added weight for families living in older homes, attached garages, and closely built neighborhoods.

Cause-and-origin questions now fall to the wider county system. Onondaga County’s Fire Bureau oversees the Fire Investigation Unit and mutual aid across the county, and the investigation team handles cause-and-origin work as well as fire-prevention efforts. The unit was honored in 2024 by the International Association of Arson Investigators for its work on a fatal North Syracuse fire, a sign of the expertise being brought to serious residential blazes like the one in Cicero.