Greencastle Township home heavily damaged by Tuesday night fire

What began as a stove-top fire in the kitchen of a Greencastle Township home quickly spread Tuesday night and heavily damaged the rural residence, Greencastle City Fire officials reported.

The call came in a 7:02 p.m. as homeowner Bayard Allen told fire officials he was cooking on the stove at his 1699 N. CR 175 West home when he was interrupted briefly by a phone call and turned around to find the stove in flames.

Allen reportedly attempted to put the fire out by throwing water on it, but that splashed grease out of the pan and got the fire out of control in the kitchen, Lt. Kenneth Shepherd of the Greencastle Fire Department told the Banner Graphic after the fire had been extinguished at 9:18 p.m.

"The gentleman that was in it got out of the house," Shepherd said, praising him for doing the right thing in leaving the premises and calling the fire department.

The fire spread into the large attic of the one-story home and a couple of adjacent rooms, fire officials said.

"Heavy flames were coming out of the kitchen window when we first arrived on the scene," Shepherd said. "Heavy smoke was coming out everywhere."

Shepherd said he sent a crew immediately to the kitchen window to knock down the flames there and that "probably kept us from losing the whole thing."

Once that crew knocked down the kitchen area flames, firefighters were able to enter the structure and extinguish the blaze.

The loss was estimated at $40,000-$60,000.

"We had a really good response," Shepherd noted. "We had plenty of manpower so we were able to give people breaks and still keep going."

Greencastle firefighters received assistance at the scene from the Fillmore, Cloverdale, Bainbridge, Reelsville and Madison Township fire departments.

Operation Life ambulance service also responded and checked out the homeowner for reassurance, Shepherd said. He was not transported.