TOLEDO, Ohio (WTVG) – An early morning fire placed LaSalle Township Volunteer Fire crews between icy wintry conditions and a three-alarm fire.
It happened along Swartz Road in Monroe County where members of the community stepped up to help.
All that’s left of the LaSalle Township home is rubble.
“All I heard was a phone call from Sandy that said fire help, and as soon as I opened the door all I could see was the back of their house engulfed in flames,” Leroy Cuykendall, a nearby neighbor, said.
Early Thursday morning Lasalle Township Volunteer Fire crews were called out to battle the blaze.
“It took me about four minutes to arrive on scene it was close to my home,” Randy Howe, the Fire Chief of LaSalle Twp. Volunteer Fire Department, said. ”When I arrived on scene I could tell the house was fully involved and it was coming through the roof already.”
At least five other Volunteer Fire Departments responded to the massive house fire in the chilly conditions.
“Whether it’s 100 degrees or whether it’s 20 below we’re going to be there because that’s what we’ve signed up to do as volunteer firemen,” Howe said.
Firefighters not only dealt with windy and freezing temperatures, but also ice and at times frozen lines.
“But we overcame those and it all came out for that type of condition it was a perfect scenario,” the Chief said.
Adding to it, April and Leroy, as well as other longtime neighbors of the owners of the home that burned down assisted in warming up the firefighters, with hot chocolate, coffee and donuts.
“It was so cold outside and I know they were busy helping out our friends across the street so just something warm to keep them somewhat warm inside,” April Cuykendall said.
During wintry conditions LaSalle Twp. Fire also uses ambulances on scene as warming centers and rotates personnel as frequently as possible.
Chief Howe said he’s thankful the community has their back.
“We are well supported by our community, we have a very good network with our community and they support us very much,” he said.
No one was injured during the fire.
The victims of this fire lost everything and now have a GoFundMe, collecting donations.
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This article was published by WTVG on 2024-12-06 03:56:00
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