Dundee family safe after Friday fire destroys home
DUNDEE (March 20, 2023) – Wayne Township’s fire chief says the family that lost their home and a pet in a mid-day fire Friday was insured and has a place to stay.
Josh Yoder says no one was hurt in the fire in the 69-hundred block of State Route 93 Northwest in Dundee.
Firefighters could only fight the blaze from a defensive position outside the home. First responders found the front of the house engulfed in flames and too unstable to enter.
Yoder says the homeowner was in a shop next to the house but couldn’t get inside to rescue a pet Guinea pig because of the smoke.
The fire marshal has initially listed the cause as undetermined, but Yoder says it appears to have started in the dining room and is not suspicious.
He says typically the department will offer assistance through the Red Cross but the homeowners indicated they have insurance, a place to stay, and some clothes. Still, it is a difficult situation.
“It’s really hard for them. (They have) a lot of memories in that house. Just prayers for the family and everyone involved,” Yoder said.
Fighting a rural fire
Thirty-nine firefighters from Wayne, Winesburg, Baltic, Sugarcreek, Dover, Strasburg, and East Holmes helped at the scene.
Yoder explained fighting a fire in a rural community has a few more moving parts. He says the water pressure from the hydrants isn’t strong enough, so they must find a rural water supply. In this case it was a pond a quarter of a mile down the road.
He says they established a water shuttle and were running about 500 gallons of water a minute.
“That’s how we roll out here,” Yoder said. “I feel we had a pretty good supply established.”