Jan. 21--WINDSOR TOWNSHIP -- Fifty-five-mile-an-hour winds created a real challenge for firefighters from 18 fire departments early Sunday morning as a mulch fire spread across a large section of J.D. Hardwoods at 8570 Route 534, said Windsor Fire Chief Dave Turk.
Turk said the fire spread across five to eight acres of mulch. "We had been there for a fire earlier in the week," he said.
"We had 18 departments from Ashtabula, Geauga, Trumbull counties," Turk said. He said a small Quonset hut-type of structure was damaged.
"We were able to get most of his equipment out," Turk said. He said a piece of equipment worth $300,000 was salvaged from the fire.
"We used more than 450,000 gallons of water," Turk said. He said the fire broke out at 4:50 a.m. Sunday and firefighters were on the scene for more than eight hours and the heavy winds moved the fire from place to place quickly.
"The wind is what was killing us," Turk said.
He said the damage is estimated at $50,000 to $75,000.
"We had one firefighter with minor injuries. He slipped on some ice and had a head laceration," Turk said.
The injured firefighter was taken to a Geauga County hospital for treatment, Turk said.
He said the cause of the fire was spontaneous combustion.
Copyright 2013 - Star Beacon, Ashtabula, Ohio
