Fire consumes birdhouse, several birds killed
By Ethan Smith
Published in News on January 5, 2017 8:26 AM
News-Argus/SETH COMBS
Seven Springs volunteer firefighters explore the scene of an exotic bird house for hot spots Wednesday evening. The cause of the fire is yet to be determined.
A fire in a woman's birdhouse near 2052 Piney Grove Church Road killed numerous birds that were inside the structure when the blaze broke out Wednesday night.
Assistant Seven Springs Volunteer Fire Department Chief Chad Sutton said the woman who owns the birds, Mary Ann McDonald, had to be stopped by firefighters from going into the birdhouse to try and save the birds inside.
She was able to save one bird, Sutton said.
Firefighters on scene Wednesday night did not know exactly how many birds perished with the building.
Sutton said McDonald had multiple heat bulbs inside the birdhouse to keep the birds warm, but it was impossible to tell precisely what caused the fire because of how badly the structure was burned.
On scene of a fire near 2052 Piney Grove Church Road. Seven Springs VFD responded. pic.twitter.com/VQa3xpNPsc -- News-Argus Cops (@NewsArgusCops) January 5, 2017
The building, which was about the size of a singlewide trailer, was a total loss.
Sutton said the fire was toned out as a grass fire, but he later learned McDonald called in the fire herself as her birdhouse being on fire and whoever dispatched the call likely misunderstood what she had said.
When firefighters arrived on scene, Sutton said, they found a fully-involved structure fire in the birdhouse.
Sutton said the fire started on one side of the structure around 7 p.m. before spreading to the other side and consuming the building.
McDonald refused to provide comment.
Sutton did not know exactly what kind of birds McDonald had inside her birdhouse.
Firefighters with Seven Springs Volunteer Fire Department had the blaze under control in around 10 minutes, and stayed on scene for around two hours drenching the birdhouse with water to make sure the blaze remained extinguished.