|
Fire damaged the attic of the house but caused no damage on the main floor. Firefighters had to cut a hole through the roof to access the fire. (Ben Kleppinger / ben@theinteriorjournal.com / February 28, 2013) |
STANFORD — Three children and their grandmother were inside a Somerset Street home Thursday evening when a clogged chimney caught the attic on fire.
Brandy Chable, a tenant at the house, said her mother was watching the kids while she went to pick up her husband when the fire started.
"They saw a lot of smoke in the yard," she said.
Chable said her mother realized the house was on fire and evacuated the children before there were any injuries.
Stanford Fire Chief Scott Maples said he was the first emergency responder on the scene.
"We found heavy smoke coming from the attic area of the house," he said."
Firefighters had to use ladders and cut a hole in the roof to gain access to the fire. The situation was complicated slightly by a second roof that had been built onto the house.
"Any time you get a fire in the attic area, especially when there's two attics, it's hard to get to (the fire)," Maples said.
There was no fire or smoke damage to the main floor of the house. A "little bit" of water damage may have occurred from the water firefighters used to extinguish the flames, but salvage covers were laid down first to minimize that potential, Maples said.
The house is salvageable, but electricity was cut to it after the fire because of the damage.
"We're going to have to find them (the tenants) somewhere else to go," Maples said. "They can't stay in the house."
The fire appears to have been caused by a clogged chimney on a wood-burning stove.
"People need to have their flues checked for buildup and be sure that their flue is in good shape," Maples said. "What happened here could happen to anybody."
