June 08--Firefighters initially had to battle an Erie blaze from a distance on Saturday morning, when they arrived to find ammunition exploding from where it had been stored inside a house's attached garage.
No one was injured, though, and Mountain View Fire Rescue crews were able to get the blaze at 190 Anderson St. under control within 20 minutes of their arrival at the scene,. They'd fully extinguished it within an hour after getting there, according to deputy chief Steve Pischke.
Pischke said when firefighters initially were dispatched to the fire at 4:24 a.m. Saturday --reportedly called in by an occupant of the home -- they'd been told that the garage was fully involved and threatening the house itself.
Pischke said that when firefighters arrived, they did find the garage fully involved and that the fire had extended into the house's attic. But ammunition stored in the garage was going off, a situation that prompted the firefighters to perform an exterior attack until the fire the flames could be knocked down to the point that firefighters could safely enter the home 's interior to finish extinguishing the blaze.
No neighboring residents had to be evacuated while the fire was being fought, Pischke said.
A car parked in the driveway near the garage as well as the garage itself and the adjacent house have all been deemed a total loss, Pischke said, with those damages estimated to total about $150,000.
The cause of the fire, and the specific area where it originated, are under investigation.
Pischke said three Mountain View Fire Rescue engines, an aerial truck and two ambulances, along with a truck from the Lafayette Fire Department, responded to the Erie fire.
Copyright 2013 - Daily Times-Call, Longmont, Colo.
