Fire destroys New Philadelphia house, damages one next door
NEW PHILADELPHIA (WJER) (Mar. 7, 2022) – New Philadelphia firefighters say a fire destroyed one home and spread to cause significant damage to the one next door to it Sunday morning.
Captain Bert Snyder says this was reported just after 6 a.m. in the 200 block of 6th St NE.
“When I arrived on scene, I noted that the initial house was fully involved with flames exposing to the neighbor’s house, with the side of their home on fire as well,” said Snyder.
Snyder says crews had the fire contained in about a half-hour. He says the house where the fire started is a total loss with a damage estimate of $120,000. He estimates damage to the second house to be around $80,000 to the building and contents. There were no injuries, but two families have been displaced.
“From what I understand, the one resident got outside with his two children and went and knocked on his neighbor’s door, and in the process there somewhere 911 was called,” he added.
Snyder says they brought in an excavating company after the fire on Sunday to tear the building down.
“It was just too unsafe at any point to get up with a ladder or try and hit any of the hotspots,” he said.
Snyder says the State Fire Marshal’s Office and an investigator from the fire department have been trying to determine the cause.