No injuries in Russellville house fire
A house fire on Feb. 6 completely destroyed the property at 508 Lauderdale St. NE but no one was injured.
A house fire late Friday night in Russellville destroyed a local home but did not result in any injuries, according to Russellville Fire Marshal Justin Green.
The home located at 508 Lauderdale Street Northeast was completely destroyed.
Green said the fire was reported shortly before midnight on Feb. 6 by a neighbor from further down the road.
“The people who called the fire in were unsure if there were any residents inside the home,” Green said. “When we arrived the fire was fully involved.”
Green said they were able to determine that a family of four people lived inside the residence, but no one was at the home at the time of the fire.
“There was a family of four people renting the home,” Green said. “I think there were a couple of people somewhere in their 20s and a younger boy as well as the mother who was somewhere around 40 years old so our main objective at first was making sure no one was in the home and that everyone was safe.”
Green said the power had been turned off at the home earlier in the day and those living there had all gone to stay somewhere else for the night.
But Green said he had trouble trying to get in touch with and locate the residents of the home.
“It took me a while to finally get in touch with every person that lived in the home and to get confirmation that they were alive and well. They didn’t seem to want to talk to authorities,” Green said. “The mother just kept telling me that everyone was fine, but I told her that I needed to talk to every single person that lived there so that I could know for sure that no one had been left inside.”
Green said finally around 3:30 a.m. on Feb. 7 he had made confirmation that no one was left inside the home during the fire.
“I was getting ready to start searching for remains because of my protocol,” Green said. “The mother didn’t want to cooperate at first but eventually I was able to confirm that everyone was safe.”
Green said he hasn’t been able to investigate the cause of the fire yet.
“I’m waiting on permission from the mother that lives in the home so that I can search the premises,” Green said. “I’ve gotten permission from the owner of the house, but I’m trying to wait on permission from the lady that lives there.”
Initially there was some confusion as to the exact address of the home involved in the fire.
“I have it listed as 508 on my official report,” Green said. “That is how it was called in, but the owner said he can’t remember and the insurance company said they don’t have that address insured. It has turned out to be a bit of a mess.”
Green said the Russellville Fire Department had to return to the home later in the morning around 5 a.m. due to a rekindling.
“Sometimes a fire will be put out but then later on it will rekindle itself in the shingles or something and we have to go back and put it back down,” Green said.
