January 18, 2010

House destroyed in blaze

      A house under construction in the Wakefield subdivision in northwestern Johnson County was destroyed by a fire on Sunday evening.  Firefighters from the White River Township Fire Department arrived on the scene around 8:30 p.m. to find the single-story house fully engulfed and beginning to collapse.  Because the house was already a total loss upon the fire department's arrival, firefighters focused their efforts on other nearby homes and also a 250 pound propane tank that was just feet from the blaze.  The massive fire was generating a significantly large plume of ash and embers that was traveling through the air to nearby homes causing additional concern.  Incident commanders subsequently sent out crews to be sure none of the embers were starting secondary fires.

         The main fire was brought under control in less than an hour however a radiantly-conducted fire in a nearby construction dumpster continued to burn for about another hour due to the extremely heavy fire load inside.  Complicating matters was a thick stack of discarded vinyl siding that was thrown in top of the dumpster.  The extreme heat from the fire fused the siding together into a solid mass that acted as a shield preventing water from penetrating the base of the fire.  Firefighters removed the debris, piece-by-piece, until they were able to extinguish the stubborn fire below.  Firefighters were on the scene for about two and-a-half hours and no one was injured.  The house, owned by M/I Homes of Indianapolis, was a total loss.  Investigators are still investigating the cause of the fire.
 

           
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