Early this morning, at approximately 7:00am, the Clinton Fire Department was dispatched to 207 West Rogers Street on a report of smoke and visible flames coming from the crawl space area of the home. The on-duty crew of 4 personnel, as well as Fire Chief Mark Manuel, arrived on scene to find moderate smoke in the crawl space and interior of the home. Fire crews immediately began to attempt to identify the source of the fire and smoke.
Fire crews entered the crawl space of the home and located a fire burning around the homes furnace. Due to the confined area of the crawl space, fire crews were unable to reach the seat of the fire for successful extinguishment. A secondary entry team was sent into the home and located an area in the living room where fire was beginning to burn through the floor and into the living area of the home. In addition to the fire in the crawl space, a bedroom of the home was found to be fully involved in fire. Extinguishment of the fire was performed quickly with fire crews having to cut away the flooring in the living room to reach the fire in the crawl space.
After extinguishment of the fire, Fire Chief Mark Manuel, Deputy Fire Chief Matt Willings, and Lieutenant Mitch Grimes began an investigation into the cause of the fire. It was determined that the fire started as a result of an electrical short in wiring located in the crawl space, close to the furnace. The fire burned along the structures floor joists before breaching the flooring in a wall between the living room and a bedroom closet. The fire ignited clothing and other miscellaneous items in the bedroom closet. The burning closet items filled the bedroom with super heated smoke which ignited other items in the bedroom simultaneously in a phenomenon called Flash over. The flash over occurred shortly after fire crews arrived on scene.
The fire had burned for some time before being noticed by the residents. The residents credit their family dog for awakening them as they were still asleep at the onset of the fire. The home did have working smoke detectors, however, their dog awoke them prior to the smoke alarms sounding. The family of 5 - 3 adults and 2 children, have been displaced from the home as fire damage was extensive. Chief Manuel requested the assistance of the American Red Cross to assist the family with immediate needs.
Fire crews were on scene for approximately 4.5 hours. Assisting agencies for this incident include the Clinton Police Department, Golden Valley Memorial Hospital Ambulance, and Evergy.
