Fireworks the possible cause of a house fire near Hartford

HARTFORD, S.D. (KELO) – A family near Hartford is without part of their home after an early morning garage fire spread to the house.

There were no injuries, but officials believe it possibly started because of fireworks.

Emergency crews arrived on scene around 3 a.m. after reports of a fire in a detached garage. The flames eventually spread to the house, though.

“So deputies were able to get everybody evacuated, woken and evacuated before the fire spread,” Capt. Adam Zishka with the Minnehaha County Sheriff’s Office said.

The flames are out now at the house on East Shore Place, but now the cleanup and investigation continues.

The Minnehaha County Sheriff’s Office is reviewing the incident and they believe that fireworks were possibly the cause of the flames.

“Unfortunately, it seems like every year there’s one or two fire incidents in the county or Sioux Falls city limits that are caused by fireworks,” Zishka said. “Basically, fireworks stay hot a long time after they’re deployed or after they’re used. They get thrown away with the rest of the trash and unfortunately that can cause a fire that can spread very quickly.”

Zishka says they aren’t 100 percent sure yet if those were the exact circumstances that lead to this fire, but it’s likely.

So now he has this message for anyone still looking to celebrate with fireworks this weekend.

“It’s important to have water ready to go, water in buckets and that’s where you should dispose of your fireworks,” Zishka said. “And leave your empty fireworks or your used fireworks outside for at least the overnight so that they’ll be cooled down before you discard them in the trash.”

Zishka says the garage is a total loss but not all of the house was engulfed in flames. However, the amount of damage is still being assessed.

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