Chillicothe firefighters responded to a house fire Saturday morning at 325 Dickinson Street. Chillicothe Police said no one was home when the fire was reported at 7 in the morning.
Upon arrival, a tree limb was on the ground with the service power line from the house under the limb. Sparks were coming from the end of the power line and the side of the house. Smoke was coming from the south side of the house and the roof area. The electric meter was pulled, and CMU was contacted to remove the power line from the house.
Upon entry into the house, firefighters reported that they found a huge amount of debris described as “stacked with stuff from floor to ceiling and only a very narrow pathway.” Once it was determined no one was inside, the fire department used an exterior attack as they could not access the fire from inside. The south wall and south roof area were cut open to find fire in the walls and attic. Several holes were cut in the roof to gain access to the fire. Fire was noted on the exterior wall on the north side of the house. The wall was opened up to gain access. The fire department called in a heavy equipment excavator to remove the roof and a large amount of debris from the second story to finish extinguishing the fire.
A Ladder truck was initially used with a fire engine relaying water from a hydrant at 3rd and Dickinson. Another engine laid a supply line from the corner of Dickson and Directory to the ladder truck. During the incident, the water main north of Directory burst, so workers shut down the hydrant and used only the hydrant at 3rd Street.
The owner was listed by the fire department as Jewell Frizell. Firefighters were at the scene for about four and one-half hours.
