Carthage firefighters respond to townhouse fire in subzero temperatures
Jan. 16—CARTHAGE — A house fire just down the street from the village fire department was quickly knocked down Saturday night.
According to Carthage Fire Department Chief Brian Draper, crews received a report of a multi-unit townhouse on fire at 921 S. James St. at about 7:20 p.m.
When they arrived, they found the four-unit townhouse had one entire unit ablaze, focused on the second floor.
Chief Draper said the night's frigid temperatures, measured at about 11 degrees below zero at 7 p.m., fortunately did not pose many problems as his team fought the blaze.
"The hydrant outside the home, we couldn't get that open," he said. "But that wasn't that big of a problem, we still got water."
He said crews were able to use the 1,000 gallons of water loaded into each of their engines instead of hooking up to the hydrant. He said he wasn't sure if it was broken or frozen, but village Department of Public Works crews will soon investigate.
Nobody was injured in the blaze or the fire department's attack to extinguish it, although they did keep a Carthage ambulance on standby in case of cold exposure.
Inside the townhouse, only one of the four units was significantly damaged, with heavy damage in a second-floor bedroom and smoke, heat and water damage throughout most of the second floor of the unit.
Chief Draper said the cause of the fire was determined to be a carelessly discarded cigarette, thrown into a garbage can in the second-floor bedroom.
The residents of the three undamaged units were able to return to their homes Saturday night, but the two adults who lived in the damaged unit were not. The American Red Cross in Watertown said in a news release Sunday that they provided the two people with health services and financial assistance for shelter, food and clothes.
Chief Draper said his department's quick response to the fire was likely what kept the other three units from sustaining damage.
At the scene of the fire, Carthage firefighters were assisted by the West Carthage Fire Department, and the Great Bend Fire Department staffed the Carthage department while they fought the blaze.
