The home of famed KISS guitarist Ace Frehley was damaged by fire on Saturday. Frehley left the following message on his personal website regarding the fire that was reported at his 1347 Spring Valley Road home in Yorktown Heights, New York.

“The official statement from the fire inspector was as follows: An electrical fire was caused by a tree falling on the wires in the backyard and shorting out the fuse box which in turn heated up the internal wiring in the walls and started the fire.

The fire department and police did a great job, and I’m very grateful to them for all of their help and courage in this matter…job well done!” — Ace

Reports claim that multiple fire companies were contacted around 11 a.m. though fortunately nobody was in the house at the time. According to Yorktown Heights Fire Chief Chet Swirski, “We got to the scene and found heavy smoke showing from the roof line of the building.”

Frehley does not currently reside in the property; however, a man who has been staying at the house returned as the firefighters were in the process of setting out the fire. Earlier this year, Lenders started the foreclosure process for the home according to Westchester County Court documents.

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Recent suspicions have been voiced concerning the timing of the fire. In February of this year, the New York Post reported that the famous guitarist stopped making mortgage payments on the house. “The US National Bank Association, which started foreclosure proceedings on Feb. 15, said the makeup-faced ’70s star stopped paying his mortgage in 2011.”

The website lohud.com reported the following in February: “U.S. Bank National Association claims that the rock star, whose real name is Paul Frehley, stopped paying his $735,000 mortgage on March 1, 2011.”

The present value of the home is marked at $541,516 though Frehley initially signed a $735,000 mortgage.

[Images (1) and (2) Via Wikimedia Commons]