The report of a structure fire shortly after 12 a.m. Wednesday morning had the Letts, Burney and Westport Volunteer Fire Departments responding to a blaze on a County Road north of Horace.
The home of Earl Anderson, located at 3747 W. County Road 400 S. was set aflame in the early morning hours, and when the fire crews arrived, they could see flames stretching into the sky and smoke surging out of the home’s upstairs.
The firefighters assessed the scene and began suppressing the fire with water. After battling the blaze from both the inside and outside, the crews temporarily pulled out and called for reinforcements from departments at Millhousen, Hartsville and Greensburg.
“It was getting too hot and spreading. The fire encased the upstairs,” Letts Lt. Andy Allen explained. “We could not get the fire down.”
Allen attributed the fire’s strength to voids in the walls and hiding places where the fire could escape suppression. The difficulty in reaching the fire prevented the crews from getting on top of it.
“The fire hides in every nook and cranny,” Allen said.
The firefighters continued fighting the blaze from the outside, blasting the fire with water hoses and spraying into the windows and other open areas.
A few hours worth of fighting extinguished the fire, but only temporarily. The crews departed the scene and went back to their stations, where they cleaned up and tried to get some sleep. Just to be safe, the firefighters had units continually checking on the home. A quick run-by shortly before 11:30 a.m. had the firefighters radioing in that the fire had sparked again, which they could tell from the thick smoke pouring out of the building.
“It rekindled itself and went on,” Allen said.
The firefighters returned to the scene again, where they had to search for the remaining hot spots and work around the collapsed roof and the virtually destroyed upstairs. At around 2 p.m. Wednesday afternoon, the fire departments left the scene after taking several trips around the home to make sure the fire was completely stifled.
The crews on the scene could not determine what exactly ignited the fire, though Allen speculated that it was probably started by an electrical issue. According to him, the owners had heard faint popping sounds coming from the upstairs and attic, which was likely the beginning of an electrical fire.
Once lit, the fire and smoke set off the building’s smoke detectors, and the home’s occupants were fortunate enough to escape injury.
“With a fire like this, we were very lucky not to have anyone hurt,” Allen said. “But it’s unfortunate that it happened this time of year.”
The Andersons are now staying with their son who lives close by.
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