Two house fires in town in less than a week

House fires hit backyard neighbors the night of Dec. 31 and Monday morning near 18th and Main streets.

No one was home at the time of either fire and there were no injuries.

The first fire began on the porch at 1749 Main St. about 10 p.m. Dec. 31, at a home rented by Heather Poage and owned by Carl Guilfoyle.

“We know the fire started in the corner of the front porch,” said Deputy Fire Chief Brian Love, “but we don’t have a source of ignition yet.”

Poage said her neighbors reported hearing fireworks that evening.

“I’m wondering if it was a misguided bottle rocket,” she said.

Love, who said an investigation was being made into the fireworks reports, said the fire reached into the attic and above the garage ceiling.

Personal property damage, Poage said, was contained to some items in the garage that she had planned to sell in a yard sale.

Damage was more extensive Monday morning at a fire at 1750 Main Street Terr., which brought firefighters out in temperatures reaching toward -20F.

Renter Chad Flynn was not home about 9 a.m. when a neighbor reported a fire at his house, owned by Bill Smith.

Fire Chief DuWayne Tewes said that blaze was in the attic and appears to have been electrical in origin.

“There’s considerable damage through the garage, kitchen and living room,” Tewes said. “(The fire) traveled a bit.”

Tewes said fire crews needed to pull the ceilings to reach the blaze and smoldering insulation.

“All I can give you is coincidence,” the fire chief said about the neighbor-to-neighbor fires. “It’s kind of odd, but it’s not unheard of.”

Poage, whose fire-displaced family includes twin sons Hunter and Bailey, 16, and daughter Layla, 5, said she received many text messages Monday morning telling her that her house was on fire again.

“I was on my way over there,” she said, “but I passed (Assistant Police Chief) Bob Butters, who told me it wasn’t my house,” she said.

Poage and daughter Layla, 5, were staying at the home of music teachers Mike and Julie Packard after the fire. Son Bailey was out of town performing with the All State Invitational Marching Band at the Orange Bowl in Florida when the home burned and son Hunter was out of town visiting a friend.

Poage and her daughter were visiting friends New Year’s Eve when she received a call about her home being on fire.

Poage said the support for her and her family began as she was walking toward her car after the fire was extinguished.

That was when the Red Cross phoned, she said, making sure she had a place to stay.

She did, as Julie Packard had already offered her home to the family.

“She’s a good friend and a good mom, so you just do what you have to do,” Packard said.

Poage said Monday she had found another rental home in town for her family.

“Everything’s just fine,” she said, listing the many people who offered their help in a number of ways.

“It’s all worked out just fine.”