CENTERBURG — An inadquate stove pipe from a wood-burning stove set fire to a house at 2263 Huffman Road, southwest of Centerburg, Thursday night. The home of the Terry Garber family was heavily damaged, but the Garbers, who were at home, were not injured.
Lt. Jason Whipple of the Central Ohio Joint Fire District said the alarm came at 9:09 p.m. while his department was at Knox Community Hospital with another patient. Mutual aid came from Porter-Kingston Township, which was first ln the scene. Whipple said the fire, which started in a corner of the living room of the four-bedroom, two-story house, was quickly knocked down.The stove pipe was inside a decorative outer pipe, and burned hot enough to set fire to the structure.
An additional problem was the OSB, or chip board, used in the home. OSB composit sheets manfactured with glue. Whipple said the board is exellent building material and is used nationwide, but the glue burns very hot. Fire in the board is difficult to find and extinguish.
In order to make sure they found all of the fire, firefighters had to pull down ceilings and wall board. They were on the scene until 3:45 a.m today.
Mutual aid also came from the Homer and Hartford Township departments, as well as BST&G from Sunbury.
