The Winchester Fire Department battled extreme weather conditions to fight a house fire in the early morning hours Monday in Glasgow.
Winchester Fire Department Chief Freddie Andrews says the call came in at 1:22 am Monday morning. He says the fire was fully involved when crews arrived.
“When we arrived there were flames showing through the roof. The kitchen was pretty well fully engulfed. The power impeded us because it ran through the house and onto the back porch on the other side of the house with no disconnect.
The weather was the biggest factor of course. It was near four below zero on the way down there and like a minus 18 windchill I think.”
Andrews says the department had trouble with getting water to flow through the hoses properly due to the bitterly cold temperatures. Andrews says early on it became clear it was going to be a defensive effort to fight the fire.
“We basically just ended up in a defensive mode and trying to save the neighbors house which was fairly close. The wind was blowing right toward that house.
With all the damage the house had by the time we got there and set up, we decided to fight it from the outside and save the neighbors house, with our water situation that we had.”
Andrews says the house located at 325 North Exchange in Glasgow was a total loss in the blaze, however, occupants of the home were able to get out safely and no one was injured in the fire.
An official cause of the fire has yet to be determined, however, Andrews says initial investigating indicates it may have been electrical in nature. The Winchester Fire Department was on scene for over five hours in brutal conditions.
Andrews says the Department stayed longer checking hot spots to ensure a return trip would not be needed later in the day. He says due to the weather conditions, rolling up and putting away the hoses seemed to take almost as long as suppressing the fire did.