A fire that started at a camper on Hickory Street Sunday morning reportedly killed a dog, injured a firefighter and damaged three houses.
Just after 9 a.m. Sunday, the Washington Fire Department (WFD) responded to a structure fire located at 228 Hickory St. in Washington C.H. Fire chief Tim Downing explained that the firefighter who was injured during a ceiling collapse is okay and did not require time off work following the incident.
According to reports, heavy smoke was seen during the response to the scene. A fence was removed to gain access into the rear of the property where a camper was found on fire along with arcing power lines on the ground, reports said.
Due to the downed power lines, the camper itself could not be extinguished until Dayton Power & Light responded to the scene to shut off the power.
While the camper was inaccessible, the firefighters concentrated their efforts on extinguishing the fire at two homes and on stopping the fire from spreading further, according to Downing.
The fire spread from the camper into the rear of the home on the same property where the flames traveled into the attic space. It took “extensive overhaul” to extinguish the fire from the home.
The fire also extended into the home located at 232 Hickory St. In order to extinguish the fire in this home, one room had to be overhauled.
Downing explained that the two homes themselves seemed to be vacant, one of which may have been receiving improvements or repairs.
Vinyl siding on the neighboring home located at 226 Hickory St. was damaged from radiant heat, and firefighters removed the damaged siding to discover whether or not fire had extended into the structure.
Once the power was turned off to the downed lines, the camper fire was able to be extinguished.
While the fire was active however, it also made direct contact with a small shed on the property which sustained limited damage to the door frame and framing, according to reports.
During inspections after the fire was out, there were no people found in either home although the dog’s remains were located inside the camper. Downing explained that the dog had been alive prior to the fire.
The reports show that the alarm for the structure fire sounded at 9:11 a.m. and the emergency responders arrived at 9:13 a.m., the scene was controlled as of 10:03 a.m. and the last unit left the scene at 12:25 p.m.
Wayne Township Fire Rescue responded for mutual aid.
“When I arrived to the scene, I looked around and saw several people, but I know the reality is there were three people on duty when the call came in,” said Downing. “Between those three and whoever else was showing up at the time, they took what was burning in three structures and knocked it back down to one.”
The cause of the fire is undetermined. Downing explained that there were no witnesses that could inform them if the power lines had been downed before or after the fire began. The fire has been ruled as accidental.
“I think the guys did a fantastic job,” said Downing. “They stopped the fire from spreading any further than it already had.”
Reach Jennifer Woods at 740-313-0355 or on Twitter @JennMWoods.
