Early-morning Anderson St. fire displaces seven residents

Thursday, August 22, 2019
A fire at 607 Anderson St. damaged multiple apartments and dispatched fire personnel on a box alarm Thursday morning.
Banner Graphic/Jared Jernagan

Nobody is injured following a fire which occurred inside an apartment building on Anderson Street in the early hours of Thursday morning.

A call came into the Greencastle Fire Department station at approximately 2:20 a.m. that apartments at 607 Anderson St. were on fire, and that multiple living units were involved.

A commercial box alarm then went out to local fire personnel, with the Greencastle Fire Department dispatching two vehicles to the property.

GFD was logged as arriving on the scene at about 2:23 a.m., after which it was determined that the fire was principally connected to the attic area. However, apartments on the third floor of the building were found caught in the blaze.

According to Assistant Fire Chief Rob Frank in a call from the Banner Graphic Thursday afternoon, GFD and accompanying firefighters went to work to control the blaze after arriving on the scene. The ceiling above the apartments was pulled in order to better reach the fire. Power was also turned off to the entire building.

Though no definite time had been determined, Frank said that the fire was considered to be under control approximately 15 minutes after GFD arrived, meaning that the time of the control would have been about 2:40 a.m.

None of the individuals living in the apartments or any animals were injured in the fire, although seven have been displaced due to the damages the living units sustained.

The Fillmore Community Volunteer Fire Department, Cloverdale Township Volunteer Fire Department and Madison Township Fire Department were also called to the scene on the box alarm. The Reelsville Fire Department covered Greencastle’s station during the incident.

The Greencastle Police Department, Putnam County Sheriff’s Department, Operation Life and the Red Cross were also at the property.

The Greencastle Fire Department reported as being cleared from the scene at 4:03 a.m.

Frank said that five apartment spaces suffered extensive damage, as well as an apartment below sustaining water damage in the efforts to put out the fire. However, he believed that the damage could all be repairable, and thus the units were not a total loss.

Though the fire is still regarded as being under investigation as of Thursday afternoon, Frank said that the blaze is being ruled as an electrical fire and accidental in nature.

Per investigation reports, Frank said that damages are being estimated at $80,000 in property loss and $20,000 to account for contents lost in the fire.

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