Fire in Chillicothe caused extensive damage to a portion of a house.
The Chillicothe fire department, just before midnight, received a call for a structure fire at 917 Locust. Upon arrival, Chillicothe police reported the fire was in the back of the house in the basement. They stated that a resident of the home had seen fire in the basement on a workbench.
Heavy smoke was showing from the rear of the home and firefighters entered the structure with a handline and thermal imaging camera.
Firefighters were unable to find any flames so they advanced to the main floor of the home and a ventilation fan was placed on the main floor at the entrance to remove the smoke.
The fire crew entered the basement again to find that the fire had been on the workbench but had melted the water line and the water had extinguished the fire. The water line valve was closed to shut off the water. Another ventilation fan was placed at the top of the stairs of the basement to remove smoke. Upon investigation, firefighters found that one of the breakers had been thrown.
Fire damage was so extensive so the department decided to contact the Missouri State Fire Marshal office to investigate with the assistance of Chillicothe Police.
The fire department listed the owner as Chris Lee and the occupant as Michelle Ward and firefighters were at the scene, 917 Locust, for two hours.
