By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
A father and his two teenage sons escaped an overnight house fire in Toledo which virtually destroyed a two-story home.
Volunteers from five departments answered the 4:11 a.m. call to Blakeley Lane, about three miles east of town, according to Lewis County Fire District 2 Chief Grant Wiltbank.
The two boys were sleeping downstairs where the fire is suspected to have begun, Wiltbank said.
“From what I understand, one of them smelled smoke and raised the alarm,” he said.
The father had to get out through a second-story sliding window, he said.
No injuries were reported.
The house was probably about 75 percent involved when crews arrived and even though it was knocked down rather quickly, it took until almost 9 o’clock this morning to chase down and root out fire in various spots above the wood ceiling, Wiltbank said.
Wiltbank, who was at his regular job out of town until this morning, was quick to offer high praise for Assistant Chief Mike Dorothy, who was incident commander, and the 25 personnel who responded.
He said he just couldn’t be more impressed with the caliber of people – volunteers – who answer these calls.
“Everybody did an extraordinarily good job, particularly working in sub-freezing conditions for several hours …” he said. “My hat goes off to all of them.”
The last of the District 2 firefighters didn’t finish up and leave the station until 11:30 a.m., he said.
The cause is being investigated, but appears to be accidental, appearing to have originated in an area on the ground floor near the stairway, several feet from a wood stove, Wiltbank said.
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