Rachael Ray on house fire: 'Listen to your first responders'

Sept. 14 (UPI) -- Rachael Ray appeared on Good Morning America Monday to discuss the fire that destroyed her New York home in August.

The celebrity chef's home in Lake Luzerne, north of Albany, caught fire due to an animal being burrowed inside her chimney. Rey, her husband John Cusimano, Rey's mother and the couple's dog made it out okay.

Ray said she was made aware that her roof was on fire from a stranger who was riding an ATV near her backyard.

"By the time I had gone upstairs to determine what we could save, I could hear the fire crackling through the walls and spreading through the building. And because of my work with the Denis Leary Firefighter Foundation and the training I've done over several years with actual first responders, I knew to leave immediately," Ray said.

"I just can't tell you how important it is to listen to your first responders," she continued.

Ray said that she had previously bought a property across the street for friends to use as a guest house that she is now using.

"We've learned nothing but gratitude. We see our fellow Americans suffering out west. These horrible wildfires and they don't have a place to go," Ray said, expressing how grateful she is to still have a a bed and roof over her head.

Sign up for our Streaming newsletter

Sign Up