Dover firefighters called to overnight wall fire in home

DOVER (WJER ) (Feb. 6, 2025) – Dover firefighters say a man declined treatment for slight smoke inhalation resulting from a small fire in the wall space of his house overnight.
Captain Joe Minocchi says the man called 9-1-1 from his home in the 200 block of Superior Avenue at about 12:15 a.m.
“The homeowner was home at the time. He had noticed that there was some flickering of power – he lost partial power in a room or something he was in,” said Minocchi. “He started investigating to see what was going on and that’s when he found (the fire.)”
Minocchi says the fire was on the second floor in a bathroom wall and had spread to the floor above, resulting in about $7,000 in damage.
“That’s your wiring, all your wall studs, the wall covering, your drywall and all that stuff, and then up into the floor above and everything else,” he said.
Minocchi says firefighters had to open the wall on the second floor to knock down the fire. They also opened the flooring some on the third floor. The man was still able to stay in the home after it was ventilated.
Minocchi says the cause was determined to be electrical.
“I’m not sure if anything was plugged into an outlet, or anything like that at this time,” Minocchi said.
Firefighters were on scene for about an hour and a half this morning. New Philadelphia firefighters assisted.