Report of Dynamite in Kan. Home Fire Caused Concern

March 31--BENNINGTON -- Reports of dynamite and ammunition under a bed in a burning house caused emergency workers to gear for an explosion Thursday night near Ottawa County State Fishing Lake.

A Riley County bomb squad was called to the unoccupied house along Cabin Row, 1064 N. 190th, after firefighters found it fully engulfed.

No explosives were located in the house owned by Harold Woods, but the structure was a total loss. No one was injured and adjacent property was not harmed.

The bomb squad found ammunition, "but none went off as far as we know," said Rex Loughridge, a volunteer firefighter with Rural Fire District No. 4 in Bennington. He was among more than 40 firefighters, some also with the Minneapolis, Culver and Miltonvale departments, who joined in the attack.

Minneapolis firefighters filled a tanker from the nearby lake to maintain an adequate supply of water.

Neighbors to the south called 911 at 10:17 p.m. to report the fire, said Russell Thornton, Ottawa County undersheriff, and the house was ablaze when firefighters arrived before 10:30.

"All we did was get in and start squirting water," Loughridge said.

The fire was brought under control in 21/2 to 3 hours, he said.

Most impressive to Thornton was the effort to keep flames away from where they were told dynamite was stashed.

"It didn't burn, so they did a good job," he said. "That part of the house was untouched by the fire."

Thornton said a neighbor who is related to Woods said there was dynamite in the house "at one point in time," and also ammunition.

Emergency workers speculated that the fire started in the attic, he said, and that it might have been sparked by faulty electrical wiring.

Many firefighters were up all night, but they were feeling fine as lunch loomed late Friday morning.

"After a couple pots of coffee and breakfast, you kind of regenerate," Loughridge said.

He and Brandon Cochran, the Bennington emergency medical service director, were among firefighters who assisted Rod Oldridge, of Salina, an investigator with the Kansas State Fire Marshal's Office. They walked through the charred building to try to determine a cause.

Oldridge referred comment to the fire marshal's office in Topeka. A spokeswoman there said Friday afternoon that no information would be available before Monday.

The house is seldom occupied, Thornton said. Neighbors said it had been six weeks since anyone had seen Woods, who works in Salina. Authorities did not know where he lives.

"By the looks of the house, it had been six months to a year since anyone lived there," Thornton said.

Authorities made contact with Woods Friday morning.

-- Reporter Tim Unruh can be reached at 822-1419 or by email at [email protected].

Copyright 2012 - The Salina Journal, Kan.