Chillicothe firefighters responded to a possible fire Thursday afternoon at the Tony Trammel residence, 1809 Fair Street in Chillicothe.
According to a report from Fire Lieutenant Tracy Bradley, firefighters were told there was a light haze in the basement area. The owner stated he had started a load of laundry and went upstairs. Then he started to smell something and noticed light smoke in a living-room area of the basement.
Using a thermal camera, Chillicothe firefighters searched the entire basement for hot spots and nothing was found. The owner was advised to restart the washing machine. That’s when the thermal camera noticed the motor area starting to heat up.
The front cover was removed and those present noticed a hot smell. A belt on the motor had burned up and a ventilation fan was used in the garage area to remove smoke.
Firefighters went upstairs to check for smoke or hot spots and noticed an infrared heater plugged into a power-strip had overheated and discolored the cord and had arc damage. The fire department advised the owner he needed to have an electrician check the wiring in the outlet and to get rid of the power cord.
