PLOVER, Wis. (WSAU) — The cause of a residential fire in Plover Tuesday has been determined.
Plover Fire Chief Mark Deaver says they were called out to the home on East Breezewood Court at 5:40 p.m. The house was engulfed in flames when they arrived.
Deaver says this fire could have been prevented by moving the charcoal grill further from the building. “After investigating the fire, we’re positive that it was a cooking fire located in the back of the house or the garage, and so what they were doing was barbecuing outside. They had their barbecue next to the house. That started the back of the garage on fire.”
Deaver says fire doubles in size every minute, and modern construction materials burn much faster than older homes made with natural lumber and few if any glues and plastics. “It took out the siding, and as you know, the lightweight construction of houses nowadays, it moved through the soffit very quickly into the garage area, and then into the attic of the house.”
Deaver says vinyl siding, and oriented strand board, or OSB with glue and resin, combusts quickly. Most newer houses use 4X8 sheets of OSB on walls and roofs under siding and shingles. “With the roof material that’s made out of OSB also, what we noticed is that all of the plywood was burned out, and all that was there was the tarpaper and shingles. It was still perfectly intact, so if we would have put people up on that roof, that’s when firefighters can fall through roofs really easily, and we definitely didn’t put anybody up on the roof for that fire.”
There were smoke detectors inside the living area, but since the fire started on the outside of the building, they didn’t go off until the garage was engulfed and smoke started coming inside.
Deaver says following some simple guidelines will help prevent fires like this one. “Don’t grill by vinyl siding. Decks are also the thing, too. If there’s something on the deck, especially with turkey fryers and stuff like that, all of those products are made for outside use only, and never to be used inside a house or garage. They should be at least ten feet away.”
At least two people were inside the home when the fire started. Six people live at the home. Everyone had made it outside safely be the time firefighters arrived on the scene.
The garage was completely destroyed, and there was extensive fire and smoke damage throughout the entire home, Deaver said. Two vehicles parked in front of the garage were also severely damaged.
The garage is destroyed, and the home has extensive damage. A separate home next to the garage also had damage to its vinyl siding.
