At 12:26 PM Wednesday December 28,
2016 the Burlington Fire Department was called to 1208 Doemland Street for a
back porch that was on fire. Firefighters
arrived on scene within 5 minutes to find heavy smoke and flames coming from
the back of the single family home.
Police officers, already on the scene, had confirmed that everyone was
out of the home. Doemland Street is a
narrow dead end street and firefighters experienced some difficulty in getting fire
equipment down to the scene. Water
pressure was also an issue due to the dead end water main. Burlington Waterworks was able to temporarily
boost the water pressure to that area.
The two story single family home,
owned by Leonard Lock, was occupied by Mathew & Kailea Lock and their 3
children. The five occupants were able
to escape without injuries. Damages are
estimated at $30,000 to the structure and $7,000 to contents. The home is considered a total loss. There is no insurance. There were no working smoke detectors. One dog and one cat perished in the fire and
a second dog died later at a local animal clinic.
The origin of the fire is located
in the area of an operating wood burning stove and is most likely caused by
ordinary combustibles being too close.
The fire is considered accidental.
Ten on-duty Burlington firefighters
responded to the call and were assisted by six West Burlington firefighters
responding on automatic aid. Nine Burlington
firefighters were called in off-duty. Superior
Ambulance was called to assist with firefighter rehab. The Red Cross was on scene to assist the
residents. Firefighters remained on the
scene until 4:25 PM. There were no
injuries.
Mark Crooks
Fire Marshal