Madison Township residence destroyed by Saturday fire

Sunday, October 18, 2015
A Madison Township home was completely destroyed in a Saturday afternoon fire that required six area departments to fight. (Courtesy Photo)

A northwestern Madison Township home was a complete loss and caused subsequent fire in nearby fields after a blaze Saturday afternoon.

Madison Township Fire Department Chief Lee Price said a passerby alerted authorities about the fire on County Road 675 West, about 1.5 miles north of Roy Rogers Corner, at 3:29 p.m. The house was already fully engulfed and the structure, owned by local veterinarian John Helmers, was already collapsing into the basement.

"Once we got there, we basically had a defensive fire fight because there was nothing left to go in and save," Price said. "This is such a rural area. You're lucky to get 10 cars down that road in a week, let alone in a day."

Price noted there were reports of smoke being seen from Greencastle at least 20 minutes prior to the fire department being dispatched to the area.

No one was at home when the house caught fire, and due to the extent of the damage, the nature of the fire is currently undetermined. The departments were on scene for almost four hours fighting the house fire, which also caused a series of smaller field fires and caught one of Helmers' vans on fire as well.

"The big problem was the house had a full-sized basement. Everything collapsed into the basement, so we had to make sure everything down there was extinguished," Price said.

Greencastle and Bellmore fire departments assisted with manpower.

Reelsville and Clinton Township fire departments focused efforts on the three field fire caused by embers from the house fire. The field fires spanned up to an eighth-mile from the house, one of which was in the field of a different landowner.

Bainbridge Fire Department assisted with the rehab truck, which supplies drinking water for the emergency personnel on scene.

"We had other tankers en route, but we were fortunate enough to have a pond nearby to get most of the water," Price said.

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