Fire guts home in northern part of county

Friday, August 11, 2006

Area firefighters were dispatched to a trailer fire in Clinton Township late Friday afternoon.

With help from the new Mutual Aid Box Alarm System, Putnam County fire departments were notified of a fire at 7460 W. County Road 450 N. at 3:57 p.m.

Fire departments responding to the scene included Bellmore, Bainbridge, Van Bibber Lake, Greencastle, and Madison. Also assisting on scene were the Putnam County Sheriff Department and Operation Life.

Bellmore was first on the scene, and Bainbridge Fire Chief Mike Smith credited them with stomping down the fire.

"Bellmore did a good job of knocking it down before we got there," he said.

The fire spread throughout the trailer and into the crawl space. The fire also was discovered in the barn next to the trailer, which was immediately put out.

At 5:33 p.m., firefighters were able to knock the fire down completely.

Firefighters began searching the trailer for any hot spots and attempted to salvage anything they could.

At 8 p.m., firefighters were still present at the scene, waiting the to start an investigation inside the trailer.

Deputy State Fire Marshal Michael Fowler told the BannerGraphic "This case is being investigated by the Putnam County Arson Task Force, the Putnam County Sheriff Dept., Greencastle Fire Dept., Van Bibber Lake Volunteer Fire Dept., Bellmore Fire Dept., Bainbridge Volunteer Fire Dept., and the Indiana State Fire Marshals."

The fire was still under investigation at press time.

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