Fireplace ashes blamed for weekend house fire
Discarded fireplace ashes caused a house fire in the W16200 block of Community Drive on Saturday that resulted in $150,000 in damage.
Dispatchers received a 911 call at 4:52 p.m. and firefighters arrived at the house six minutes later, Fire Chief Jeffrey Hevey said. Firefighters saw heavy fire coming from the two-car garage attached to the one-story, single-family home, he said.
Firefighters from Germantown Richfield, Lannon and Butler assisted in extinguishing the fire, which took 90 minutes, he said. The Sussex Fire Department was on standby with an engine ready.
The fire had spread to the attic that ran the length of the house. Hevey said conditions were extremely cold. With a temperature of 1 degree and 12 mph winds, Hevey said it felt like 16 degrees below zero.
"We had some cold firefighters out there," he said.
The residents, a husband and wife, escaped uninjured with two of their three cats. A firefighter found the third cat unharmed. A firefighter injured his shoulder as he was pulling a portion of the ceiling down, but will be fine, Hevey said.
The American Red Cross is assisting the family. Hevey said neighbors also played a role in helping the victims.
"I think the neighbors did a pretty good job keeping spirits up," Hevey said.
Firefighters cleared the scene at 12:38 a.m. Sunday.
Hevey said damage to the house, contents and two vehicles will exceed $150,000. The residents were able to move a third car.
Focus on Education
We encourage your comments but will strive to remove discussion that contains personal attacks, racial slurs, profanity or other inappropriate material as outlined in our guidelines. We post-moderate comments on most content, but may choose to pre-moderate some comments so please be patient if you don't see yours appear right way. We also ask for your help by reporting comments you think are inappropriate.
Please login or register to post a comment.