No injuries, heavy damage in Roachdale house fire

Monday, December 21, 2020
Heavy smoke rolls from a Roachdale home Sunday afternoon. The blaze, which originated from the furnace area, caused significant damage to the structure.
Courtesy photo

ROACHDALE — No one was injured Sunday afternoon as a house caught fire on the west side of Roachdale.

The Roachdale Fire Department was called to 205 W. Washington St. around 1:15 p.m. for reports of smoke coming from the two-story house.

Firefighters arrived a short time later to heavy smoke coming from multiple parts of the structure.

No one was home at the time, but firefighters made entry into the home, first having to struggle through the smoke to find the origin of the smoke.

They determined it was from the furnace on the first floor of the structure.

Several more fire departments soon arrived, including Bainbridge, Russellville, Ladoga, North Salem and Danville, which was not dispatched but has an automatic mutual aid agreement with North Salem.

Firefighter Brian Poole reported the fire was under control in about an hour.

The fire remained under investigation Monday, with the Indiana State Fire Marshal’s Office inspecting the scene Monday morning.

The blaze appears to have originated from an electrical issue relating to the furnace.

Poole told the Banner Graphic there was “significant damage” to the home, with heavy fire damage in the immediate area of the furnace room as well as smoke damage throughout the building.

Other personnel on the scene providing assistance included the Roachdale Police Department, Putnam County Sheriff’s Office, the American Red Cross and 1-800-BOARD-UP.

The house is owned by Jonathan McCormick, who was on the scene before firefighters had departed on Sunday.

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  • What a blessing that no one was home at the time.

    -- Posted by donantonio on Tue, Dec 22, 2020, at 8:14 AM
  • The blessing was that nobody was injured. Had someone been home, the smoke might have been detected much earlier and the damage to the home would have been much less.

    -- Posted by howsthishappen on Wed, Dec 23, 2020, at 12:47 AM
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