MOUNT VERNON — A fire did extensive damage to a home at 914 Howard St., Thursday, the residence of George Ellis. The fire was called in at 11:11 a.m. by neighbor Josh Anderson.
“I was coming back from lunch,” he said “And I saw smoke coming from the house. I figured it was on fire so I called 9-1-1.”
The Mount Vernon Fire Department responded to the fire and mutual aid was provided by College Township Fire Department and Fredericktown Community Fire District. Each department sent one engine.
Eyewitness Dave Walsh said he saw firefighters pointing a heat detector at the basement when he arrived.
“When I first got here there was a lot of smoke and it seemed like they had a hose line inside,” he said. “I saw one of the firefighters kneeling down pointing a heat sensor gun at the basement. I didn’t see any flames.”
No one was reportedly in the house at the time of the fire. John Ellis, brother of George, said his brother was not at home at the time and was returning from Columbus.
“I just got here,” John said. “I don’t really know much about what happened.”
MVFD Assistant Chief Chris Menapace said the alarm was called in at 11:11 a.m. and the department was on the scene at 11:13 a.m.
“We were there until 13:52 (1:52 p.m.),” he said. “The actual fire damage was limited to the back side of the structure. We had heavy smoke damage throughout the house. There was visible fire when we arrived. After I did my 360 I had the entry team go into the back of the structure.”
An initial hose line went in the back followed by an attack line. A second attack line went in as backup, according to Menapace.
“While we were doing that we had a crew on the exterior doing ventilation,” Menepace added. “Once my mutual aid companies came in, I did some extensive roof ventilation.”
The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
