Fire causes significant damage to home

ANTIGO — A 9th Avenue home sustained considerable damage during a house fire late Monday night.

At approximately 10:15 p.m. Monday, personnel from the Antigo Fire Department, Rural Fire Control, and Town of Antigo Volunteer Fire Department responded to the fire, the cause of which is still being investigated, according to Antigo Fire Department Lt. Chad Ashbeck.

“It started on the second floor,” Ashbeck said. “There was a significant amount of damage done to the second floor along with water damage done to the first floor. From the outside, it doesn’t look like much. But on the inside, the second floor is pretty much a total loss.”

No one was injured in the blaze, according to Ashbeck, who said police officers assisted inhabitants from the home and that the house’s proximity to those neighboring it put them in danger of catching fire as well.

“It was a significant size. It wasn’t small by any means. There was heavy smoke showing when we first got there — there wasn’t any fire visible, but there was heavy smoke showing from the second floor. It took probably about half an hour to finally get it under control,” he said.

“We had firefighters enter the building and go upstairs. It took a little while to find where the seat of the fire was due to the heavy smoke that was upstairs. After they did find it and extinguish it, we had to gain access through the ceiling into the attic to extinguish some hot spots in the insulation in the attic, which took some time after that.”

He said that to his knowledge, Monday’s house fire was the first the Antigo Fire Department has been called to this year.

“The first several minutes, everyone is always worked up with high adrenaline rates,” Ashbeck said of the firefighters’ states of mind when entering house fire’s like the one on Monday. “You’re moving fast. You don’t really have time to think. It’s just a natural reaction from your training. Everybody’s got a job to do. They know what they do and they go to it and just go to work.”

The owners of the home could not be reached for comment, but Jennifer Warren, regional communications director for the Red Cross of Wisconsin, said three individuals impacted by the fire have now been assisted by her agency.

Employees with the Antigo Fire Department said a report detailing the results of their investigation into the cause of the fire will likely be available next week.