garetpaquette: House Fire Investigation

Thursday, December 19, 2013

House Fire Investigation - Cause Electrical

NEWPORT, Ky. — July 28, 2013 - A house fire caused 100,000 dollars in damage and leaves residents without a place to stay.

Seven adults and one baby lived at the home that caught fire this afternoon in the 800 block of Roberts Street in Newport.

Newport Fire Department Capt., Randy Childress said the fire broke out around 2 p.m. One of the residents said he was sleeping when he smelled the smoke. "I look in the room in the back and smoke started coming in the door and I broke the door to make sure no one was over there and the building is on fire and that's all I really know,” said Gustavo Ramos.

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Ramos said fortunately no one was in the building.

Childress said the fire started on the first floor and quickly spread to the second and third floors of the home, “After he left the door open, that allowed it to spread so if there's a lesson learned for the public is if you do see a fire shut the door,” said Childress. As for Ramos he said he wasn’t able to grab anything on his way out after making sure no one else was in the burning home, “I don't have a lot of clothes and stuff and I cook and I have my knives and I lost everything.”

Childress said the home appeared to be a total loss with the fire and smoke damage. He said the cause of the fire appeared to be electrical and started in the outlet running the air conditioner.

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It took crews thirty minutes to knock down the flames, and because of the heat extra companies were called in from the Bellevue-Dayton, Fort Thomas, Covington and Southgate fire departments.

No injuries were reported and Red Cross is assisting the residents displaced.

For this reason, Cooper Electric offers a preventive service called CurrentSAFE, to Reduce the Risk of Fire. For more details on how to make your home safe and hazard free, call 513-271-5000.