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Photo by Tyler Gaskill/Courier click image to enlarge

By TYLER GASKILL
Staff Writer

The quick actions of fire crews from the area helped to snuff a house fire and save the valuable antiques inside - not only from fire, but from water.

Firefighters from Winfield, Arkansas City, Atlanta, Burden and Udall responded to the call of a house fire at 1120 E. Seventh St., in Winfield, just before 4 p.m. Thursday. When they arrived, they discovered heavy smoke coming from several third-story windows on the historical home, built in 1886.

The fire was discovered and reported when the home's occupant, Mary Spencer, returned home and heard a suspicious sound upstairs.

"(Spencer) had just got home," Winfield Fire Marshal and Deputy Chief Alan Stoll said. "She heard a sound upstairs like something falling."

What Spencer found was a fire in the third floor of her home, Stoll said.

When firefighters arrived at the house, they immediately headed for the third floor. They faced a brief delay when they entered the front door of the home to access the stairs, only to find that the stairs are at the rear of the home.

Firefighters from Winfield quickly snuffed the flames, while crews from other cities began to arrive.

Automatic mutual aid from surrounding communities helped not only to put out the fire, but also to help save several antiques in the home from water damage, Stoll said.

"Everything in the house was able to be covered in tarps," Stoll said. "The nice thing is, when you have something like that (automatic mutual aid), you have the personnel to cover all of their antiques.

"You have enough people to save those valuable things that are so important to people."

The fire didn't take long to get under control, according to Stoll. Within 30 minutes, the fire was out.

It is unknown how long the fire had been burning before Spencer discovered it, but Stoll said it is likely the fire hadn't been burning very long.

"It couldn't have been more than 30 to 45 minutes," Stoll said. "It could have been a slow burning fire in the attic."

Stoll has yet to determine the source of the fire, but he did say that the fire is not suspicious in nature.

"The fire was contained to the room and contents of the third floor and attic area of the home," Stoll said, "and the rest of the home sustained a little bit of smoke damage and water damage."

The house is able to be occupied and "definitely repairable," Stoll said. The fire crews were even able to get the heat turned back on in a portion of the house, he said.

Investigators remained at the house until 9:30 p.m.

There were no injuries in the fire. Spencer and her three pets were able to escape the fire without injury.

Stoll commended the firefighters involved for working quickly to put out the fire and for helping to save the contents of the historical home.

"They did a fantastic job of putting this thing out," Stoll said.

"They've got some really neat, old stuff in that house. It has so much history for the city. You just hate to lose something like that. Something that cannot be replaced."

Above: Arkansas City, Winfield, Atlanta, Burden and Udall firefighters contain a house fire in Winfield Thursday. Due to their speedy response, minimal damage occurred.