Nicholasville firefighters fought a blaze at 407 W. Maple St. on Monday afternoon. The fire began near a furnace, deputy fire chief Kevin Baker said, and caused extensive damage to the house. (Photo by Jonathan Kleppinger / February 20, 2012) |
Flames from a house fire on Maple Street in Nicholasville were extinguished in about 20 minutes Monday afternoon, but it took firefighters several more hours to finish off the smoke.
The Nicholasville Fire Department was on the scene at 407 W. Maple St. around 4:30 p.m., shortly after the owner of the house heard smoke detectors and left the residence.
“Upon arrival, they found heavy smoke and flames from the structure,” deputy chief Kevin Baker said. “They confirmed there was no one inside and checked on (the owner).”
Baker said Tuesday that officials had not determined an exact cause but believe the fire started in the area of the furnace, on the left side of the house. The blaze left a large hole on that wall of the house, and firefighters spent much of their time dousing smoke and flames on that side.
The damage to the house was primarily due to the smoke but was “extensive,” Baker said, and spread through the whole residence. He said the construction of the old house helped the fire travel.
“Those old houses have lots of crawl spaces and things, so it’s just kind of a stubborn fire,” he said. “Everybody did as good as we could; it was just one of those slow, stubborn fires that take a while.”
The Jessamine County Fire District also responded to the scene for additional manpower.
West Maple Street was closed between 3rd and 4th streets while crews worked at the scene.
