Genevieve Fraiman arrived home from New York to find her home gutted.

Cause of blaze still a mystery

By Lloyd Garrison

Fifty years ago, Arnold and Genevieve Fraiman built a small log cabin in Norfolk as a weekend retreat, later adding a large master bedroom, a study, a sunroom, a deck and a glass-enclosed porch. The Fraimans were New York City lawyers who took weekends and vacationed here with their children as often they could. Norfolk became their second home. That ended early Sunday afternoon on May 3, when next door neighbor Tammy Morgan called 911 after seeing smoke billowing above the tree-shaded home at 78 Loon Meadow Drive, which was unoccupied at the time. The Norfolk Volunteer Fire Department responded quickly, along with firefighters from Winchester, Winsted, Colebrook, Lakeville and Pleasant Valley, but the fire had already done its worst. After a call from Tammy Morgan, Genevieve Fraiman immediately drove from New York to Norfolk, arriving to find the home’s smoldering interior totally gutted. It was an especially heavy blow, coming as it did in the wake of the death of her husband in September. Arnold Fraiman was an U.S. Attorney who later served as a judge on the New York State Supreme Court. North Canaan Fire Marshall John Foley, who assists Norfolk, is still investigating the cause of the blaze, along with the state fire marshall. It appears to have begun in the living room. Genevieve Fraiman is moving shortly from New York to Charlottesville, Virginia to be close to her daughter and her family, but she is determined to rebuild on the ruins of the original Norfolk structure. “I have so many old friends in Norfolk,” she says. “I want to spend as much time as I can in here during the summer.”