FREDERICKTOWN — John Richard Sparks watched from several feet away as Fredericktown and Worthington Township firefighters worked to extinguish the fire which gutted the second floor of his home on Knox Lake Road, Tuesday morning.
Sparks, a carpenter, said he had spent a lot of time working to restore the house.
“That’s the only part of the house that’s not finished,” Sparks said, pointing at the corner of the second floor where firefighters were working to put out the fire. The fire is believed to have started in that area of the house.
Sparks said when he first noticed smoke in the house, he believed it was coming from a woodstove.
“I came outside and smoke was coming around the front of the house,” he said. “Some people stopped and were helping me get stuff out of the house, including a rocking chair and an old chest that belonged to my grandfather.”
When firefighters arrived with three engines, three tankers, two grass trucks, a medic and a rescue, they sent two crews inside with hoselines to the second floor, where the fire was already heavily involved.
Fredericktown Fire Chief Scott Mast said the wind quickly drove the fire into the attic from the room where it started.
“Fortunately, we were able to jump ahead of it and force it back despite the wind,” Mast said.
Twenty-two firefighters spent about three hours on the scene and were provided with sandwiches and coffee by volunteers from the Knox County Chapter of the American Red Cross.
Crews brought the fire under control in about an hour and a half, using 15 gallons of firefighting foam and water, which was pumped into the tankers directly from Knox Lake.
The first floor sustained heavy smoke and water damage. The roof and second floor were heavily damaged by fire. Mast and the homeowner said the home was equipped with a smoke detector.
The cause of the fire, which is believed to have been accidental, remains under investigation, according to Mast.
