Flames destroy home; no one injured in blaze
By Nick Hiltunen
Published in News on May 22, 2009 1:46 PM
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News-Argus/GREG SOUSA
A firefighter sprays water into a house on Smith's Winding Lane in Patetown Thursday. Firefighters from Belfast, Patetown, Pikeville, Pleasant Grove, Saulston and Antioch responded to the blaze.
PATETOWN -- Fire completely destroyed a home off Mount Carmel Church Road Thursday afternoon.
Homeowner Glenn Williams and his wife, Jeanice, were not home when the fire started, and no injuries were reported.
The modular home, about five years old, was ruled a complete loss by Patetown Fire Chief John Gardner. Gardner estimated about $130,000 in damages to the home and its contents.
The homeowners surveyed the damages to the home Thursday afternoon, as firefighters used tools to break open windows.
Mrs. Williams, her face covered with tears and a look of disbelief, reached into the home's charred remains to remove things like fire safes and books.
What little could be salvaged was stacked on a tarp near a water reservoir that firefighters were using to put out "hot spots" around 5 p.m. on Thursday.
The fire chief said there was no hope of going inside the structure when firefighters arrived.
"When (we) arrived, they had heavy fire coming out of the rear of the structure," Gardner said. "It had broke out at the back of the house."
Firefighters were not exactly sure what caused the fire, but the couple had been having some electrical problems at the modular home.
Gardner said his suspicion is that wiring in the kitchen caused the fire.
It took about half an hour to get the fire under control, the fire chief said.
"They've lost pretty much everything," Gardner said. "All we could do is take defensive action from the outside, because it was so hot."