Web posted
Friday, January 4, 2008
Cause of Thursday fire discovered
By FOSS FARRAR
Traveler Staff Writer
An overheated chimney is the probable cause of a fire Thursday that badly damaged a house at Fourth Street and Spruce Avenue, a fire official said.
A preliminary investigation shows that the fire started around a floor furnace and wood burning stove on the first floor of the two-story residence, said Fire Chief Randy Leach. Both appliances were vented into the same brick chimney, he said.
"Any wood in contact with the chimney would deteriorate to the point where it will catch fire," Leach said.
The fire was reported at 9:03 a.m. at the residence of Don and Jackie Hickey, 326 N. Fourth. Authorities on the scene at first were concerned someone might be in the house, but that wasn't the case. Don, a driver of an 18-wheeler, was on a run; Jackie was in Wichita for a doctor's appointment, and their three children were in school.
The family stayed last night at the home of Wesley Hickey, Don's father, who lives across the alley from the residence, Wesley Hickey said today.
"We were just glad that nobody was in there and nobody was hurt," Leach said.
Firefighters had the blaze under control within 15 minutes of arriving at the scene, he said, but it was a tough fire to fight because of the building style and the cold wind.
"It's an older-style home with balloon framing and no fire stops from one floor to the other," Leach said.
The blaze climbed up the walls to the ceiling then up the ceiling to the second floor and attic, he said. Firefighters had to tear openings in walls and ceilings to fight the fire
At one point, firefighters working on the second floor were pulled out as a safety precaution, Leach said. "We could see from the outside that they had fire burning around them, above and below them," he said.
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