VICKERY — The Townsend and Clyde Fire Departments responded to a house fire on Monday afternoon.
While the family will have to stay elsewhere for the time being, the fire could have been much worse.
“They had working smoke detectors, which was very important,” Townsend fire chief John Schwochow said. “The family was home when the fire began, but the smoke alarm went off and allowed them to get out of the house and call in the fire.”
The fire occurred at 5088 CR 247 in Vickery around 1:30 p.m. The house is located almost next door to the fire station, which allowed firefighters to respond quickly, according to Schwochow.
“Having it that close to the fire station certainly helped,” he said. “We didn’t have to go very far, and it enabled us to respond to the fire just minutes after it was reported.”
While the house did sustain damage from the blaze, Schwochow said the damage could have been worse.
“The damage was pretty much contained to one upstairs bedroom,” he said. “There was some smoke and water damage in the rest of the house. Overall, it was not too bad and very minimal.”
While Townsend Fire was able to respond quickly, the department called in Clyde Fire for mutual aid.
“We’re a volunteer fire department, so during the day you don’t know how many people will be at work and how many will be able to answer the call,” Schwochow said. “It’s kind of just automatic to call the Clyde Fire Department in as mutual aid during the day.”
There were no reported injuries in connection with the fire, and according to Schwochow the cause of the fire is still being investigated.
Schwochow said there were 22 firefighters on the scene — 10 from Townsend and 12 from Clyde. In addition to firefighters, the Sandusky County Sheriff’s Office and Sandusky County EMS LS-15 reported to the scene.
Schwochow estimated that firefighters were on the scene around two hours.
