Quick response contains fire to one portion of structure

A structure fire reported early Sunday morning was contained to a garage and apartment at 950 Hwy 15 south.  Ingomar and Southeast Fire departments were dispatched to a house fire at 7:01am, with several calls of the home being on fire.

Minutes later, Ingomar arrived on the scene, and set up operations.  The quick response and aggressive interior attack more than likely proved to be the major factor in the end results.

When the first truck arrived, the fire was coming out of the roof of what appeared to be a 2 story structure, with the top being a 2 bedroom apartment being used for storage, and the bottom portion a 3 car garage and storage room.

Firefighters were very aggressive in fighting the fire in the upstairs, and protected the main part of the home, which was about 4 feet from the fire and connected with a covered breezeway.  Ingomar Fire Chief Scott Gregory reports the top floor structure and contents were a total loss, and the garage portion sustained moderate to heavy water damage.

Gregory was pleased with the response times, trucks, and manpower that responded, and was pleased with being able to keep the fire from spreading to the lower part of the structure, and protecting the main portion of the home.  Gregory stated everything worked just as it was supposed to, and just as they train for, and that he appreciated the hard work and dedication of all that responded and assisted.

As of the time of this article, Gregory was not aware of the exact cause of the fire, but did not suspect anything of a suspicious nature.  The residents were at home when the fire was discovered; no injuries to the residents or firefighters were reported.  Firefighters from Ingomar, Southeast, and two other departments responded to assist, with well over 20 firefighters on the scene.

Mark Whiteside, Deputy Chief

New Albany Fire Department