An elderly shut-in couple who riled their neighbors and local offficals for two decades by hoarding tons of garbage in and around their Westchester house died in an inferno of newsprint early yesterday when their house caught fire.
Francis Pizzolante, in his 80s, and his wife Adrienne, 70, were pronounced dead after a blaze tore through their Rye home, which neighbors described as a blight on an otherwise well-manicured neighborhood. The fire broke out in the Mayfield Street house at around 5 a.m., and firefighters who rushed to the scene said they tried but failed to save the couple.
Officials said Francis Pizzolante suffered from Alzheimer’s disease and dementia and that the couple – who lived in the house 40 years – had a long and contentious relationship with neighbors and city officials.
“They were pack rats,” said one neighbor. “They collected garbage.” The Pizzolantes’ lawn was littered with cans, containers, appliances – even discarded television sets.
Officials said the squalid interior was stacked with rubbish, with some rooms piled with stacks of decades-old newspapers through which the couple had carved out narrow paths.