“The amount of damage, the temperature, where the fire started on the second floor is now part of the first floor,” all figured into that assessment, he said. “Shortly after they get done putting the fire out everything freezes solid, so digging is almost impossible. With the amount of damage it’s going to be hard to determine anyway, and with no witnesses, things like that, it will probably stay undetermined.”
Henrichson said some firefighters were left “looking like snowmen.” The cold temperatures left some of the firefighters with layers of ice clinging to the outside of their protective gear.
They had to deal with low water pressure, bitter cold temperatures, a high terrace and a collapsing structure in putting out the fire, which was reported shortly before 7am Wednesday. The fire produced clouds of smoke that were visible from miles away. The house was destroyed.
“Basically you have a front wall and a back wall still standing, and everything in the middle has been destroyed,” Henrichson said. He has not yet been able to place a dollar amount on the damage. City Hall was notified, and Henrichson says they are going to put an emergency rush on the demolition for the safety of the people in the neighborhood.
Henrichson says he has a few leads, but he was not optimistic the cause of the fire will be determined before demolition.
“It was collapsing when we arrived,” he said. “When our guys first started to arrive the second floor was starting to collapse already, so it had quite a jump on the firefighters when they got there.”
Henrichson says the electrical service had been shut off and secured at the pole and on the house. But he says gas service, which was reported to be shut off, was turned on when firefighters first arrived.