Jun. 24—A persistent fire has kept firefighters busy over the last few days. The Washington Township Volunteer Fire Department was called twice to a fire at the Melanie Stepanak at 1870 West Highway 50.

“The one Wednesday morning was possibly electrical,” said Gray. “It started on the side of the house and went up into the attic. The homeowner was home and heard the fire in the attic. A call was made to 911 and they grabbed a garden hose to get some water on it.”

Gray says the quick action by the homeowner helped lessen the damage, but the fire still managed to get a good start.

“It had already burned up to the roof, along the siding,” he said. “The first to get there was a city police officer and then another officer and they got some more garden hoses and started fighting it. They were instrumental in help saving that house.”

Township fire fighters say no one was hurt fighting the fire. The cause is still undetermined but it is not considered suspicious. They put the dollar damage estimate at $50,000.

The fire restarted Thursday morning in the attic and sent fire fighters back into the hottest part of the house.

“Firemen get overcome with heat when the temperatures start to go up. We were called out there again the next day because it rekindled up in the attic,” said Gray. “You drink lots of water and you call in mutual aid. When it is hot like this you rely on your brothers and sisters to help because you just can’t last too long. It is easy to go too long and wind up in the medic unit.”

He says that the same gear that allows firefighters to withstand the flames of a blaze can also become the cause for heat induced illness while battling a fire.

“You have to wear full turn-out gear to fight a fire, but we try to get it so people can step away and get some of that gear off and cool down,” said Gray. “We also try to make sure EMS is there.”

Besides the assistance from the city police department, Washington Township received assistance from the Daviess County Sheriff’s Department, and Daviess Community Hospital EMS.

Plainville Fire

The blaze just outside of Washington was not the only fire in the area. Plainville Volunteer Fire Fighters were called Wednesday to a structure fire just south of town.

Details on the fire were not immediately available but the fire did involve an outbuilding at 9232 North SR 57. Plainville did receive assistance from Washington Township in fighting that fire.