Fire heavily damages local home Friday morning
The Breckenridge Fire Department responded to another house fire Friday morning, Jan. 5, the seventh electrical fire in seven days, according to Fire Chief Calvin Chaney.
The fire, in the 1300 block of West First Street, heavily damaged the home, which is not inhabitable at this time, the chief said. No one was at home at the time of the fire.
“When we arrived, smoke was throughout and flames were coming out of the front of the house,” Chaney said. “It looks like, right now, it’s going to be an electrical short in the floor. The house has received heavy fire and heavy smoke damage. It’s not going to be able to be lived in.”
Thursday night, the BFD responded to two fires — a house fire and a trash pit fire — and a vehicle rollover within a 15-minute span. “Somebody was burning a trash pit, which is illegal during the burn ban anyway,” Chaney said. “What they had was a propane cylinder in the trash, and that blew up. So, everybody in the neighborhood called and thought a house or something had blown up.”
The house fire resulted in one person being transported to the hospital for smoke inhalation. Chaney said the house will be livable again once some repair work is done. No one was injured the vehicle accident.
The electrical fires have been caused by a variety of reasons, including heaters plugged into extension cords, old house wires and other issues.
“I know people have to use (space heaters), but — I cannot stress this enough — they have to be directly plugged into a wall plug,” the fire chief said. “They cannot be run off of an extension cord. It’s just not the smart thing to do.”
He said that some problems can be caused by houses having old wiring. Too many heaters plugged in — even if they are plugged directly into the wall sockets — can overload the circuit and cause a fire. “Those heaters pull way too much amperage,” he said. “That’s what we see on the older homes. In the newer homes, it’s those extension cords they’re running to them. They’re overheating and that’s what’s causing the fires.”
Story by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan
Cutline, top photo: Breckenridge firefighters battle a house fire in the 1300 block of West First Street on Friday morning, Jan. 5. The house was heavily damaged by smoke and fire and is uninhabitable at this time, Fire Chief Calvin Chaney said. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)
