Lewis County Sirens.com

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

It was an unfortunate series of events that led to the loss of a two-story farmhouse near Adna, according to fire officials.

Fire Investigator Ted McCarty said the cause of the blaze was accidental, originating with a barbecue.

Firefighters called about 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday to the 300 block of Spooner Road found the garage in the back fully involved in flames. Lewis County Fire District 6 Chief Tim Kinder said when he arrived, he saw flames coming out the front of the first story.

“Unfortunately, with the 100-plus-year-old house, once fire got inside the walls, it raced up into the attic area and through the roof,” Kinder said.

Kinder said he had to pull personnel out, and fight the fire defensively at that point, for safety reasons.

The couple who live there had relocated the home from another part of the valley and put it back together, Kinder said. “It was his grandfather’s place.”

Members of seven other fire departments joined them, working until about midnight, according to Kinder.

“Distance to water was the hard part,” he said.

Nine tenders shuttled water from a hydrant at Adna High School, he said.

“We used so many, because turnaround time was 20 minutes,” he said.

Kinder yesterday said he was grateful to Dave Martin at Tyler Rentals, who he was able to call that night and responded to a request for an excavator; and to Ron Sandrini operated it.

They used the machine to pull parts of the building down, so crews could attempt to finish putting out the fire, he said.

“There’s nothing left, it’s gone,” he said of the house.

Nobody was injured, but the house and its contents were destroyed.

Kinder said the owner had pulled his barbecue into the door-well of the garage, because it had started to rain.

He said he went in the house to get food for the barbecue and when he came back out, he noticed a patch on the floor on fire, he said.

He went to get a hose, and returned to find a wall on fire, Kinder said.

By the time he was spraying the wall, a second wall had caught fire, he said.

“It was very unfortunate,” Kinder said.

McCarty said they don’t know exactly what caused the barbecue to catch the floor on fire.

The chief said they started to get Red Cross to assist the couple, but neighbors responded.

“Half the families in Adna were out there already giving their help,” he said. “They were very well cared for.”

Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter

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