No one was home when the fire started
A faulty chimney was blamed for late morning house fire in St. Paul on Jan. 8.
The caller to 9-1-1 reported seeing smoke from the roof of a house on Clarence Street near Maryland Avenue at 11:41 a.m. The dispatcher told responding crews that the police were on scene with smoke showing, and that the home was unoccupied.
As companies arrived, heavy smoke was showing the from attic of the two-and-a-half story home. Crews stretched 2 1/2-inch hose lines to the top of the driveway and utilized 1 3/4-inch hose bundles to access the attic.
Because of the location, firefighters threw several portable ladders, including one to the roof to perform vertical ventilation. Another crew placed smoke ejectors in the window to help relieve the smoke and heat as others finished knocking the fire.
According to St. Paul Fire Marshal Steve Zaccard, the crews found an active fire in the fire place. Zaccard says the fire started in the eves, adjacent to the chimney and either the result of a chimney fire or a malfunction that caused nearby combustibles to ignite.
A total of four engines, two ladders, one rescue squad, two district chiefs and the fire investigation unit responded to the fire with a total of 32 personnel.
One police officer was treated for smoke inhalation.
Zaccard estimates the damage to the home was close to $60,000 with another $5,000 to contents.
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