House fire ruled arson

SPARTA — A residential home was gutted and a 26-year-old woman critically injured by a fast-moving fire that police are now calling arson.

On Thursday, Feb. 28, multiple 9-1-1 calls sent police, fire fighters and EMS workers to a home on Fox Trail which was completely engulfed in flames.

Lindsey Kiensicki, a resident at the house, was standing at the end of the driveway with burns to her head, face and arms. She was transported by the Sparta Ambulance Squad and Paramedics from St. Clare Hospital to the Route. 517 bypass where the Andover Township Fire Department had established a landing zone. She was then flown by Atlantic Medical Air #1 to St. Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston, where her condition remains critical. There was no one else in the home at the time of the fire.

Fire Departments from Sparta, Ogdensburg and Milton were able to knock down the flames and get the fire under control.

Sussex County Fire Marshal Joseph Inga and members of the Sussex County Prosecutor’s Office Arson Investigation Unit determined the fire was caused by arson in a non-random act. Officials are declining to release any further information at this time.