By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
Whatever it was that ignited a Sunday morning blaze in Vader that spread from a house to one, and nearly two, adjacent buildings will remain a mystery.
The cause will be listed as undetermined,” Fire Investigator Ted McCarty said.
822 A St., Vader
“There just were not enough pieces there for me to pinpoint it,” McCarty said today.
A friend who was staying there woke up to smoke, and rousted the father and son from bed, McCarty said.
Firefighters called about 8:50 a.m. arrived to find the single story home fully involved in flames and beginning to catch the Masonic Hall next to it on fire.
The father has used a garden hose for as long as he was able, to put water through a back bedroom window, while someone else ran to a neighbor’s to call 911, McCarty said.
The father ended up with cuts to his hand and arm, from breaking out the window, he said.
The house on the 800 block of A Street, built in 1935, is a complete loss.
Also beyond saving, was the former community center building to the north, a quonset hut style structure stuffed with what its owner said was a couple of hundred thousand dollars worth of collectibles, according to McCarty. It was torn apart with an excavator to extinguish its burning contents.
Unfortunately, neither of the buildings were insured, McCarty said.
The resident did have space heaters throughout the house, but whether perhaps there were combustibles next to a heater in the unoccupied bedroom, there’s no way to know, McCarty said.
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For background, read “Two-plus buildings affected by Vader fire; cause unknown” from Tuesday November 11, 2014, here
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter