Garage Fire Damages

Hawthorne Hill Road Residence

By Andrew Gorosko

Volunteer firefighters from four local fire companies responded to an accidental blaze discovered within a two-bay garage in the lower level of a house on Hawthorne Hill Road on the night of Monday, November 16, quickly extinguishing the fire and limiting the damage to the wood-frame structure.

Firefighters received a call for help at 8:32 pm from the Kowarick residence at 5 Hawthorne Hill Road, which is a dead-end street extending from Saw Mill Road. There were no injuries in the fire.

Hawleyville Fire Chief Joe Farrell explained that on receiving the fire call, he realized that the house on fire was across the street from his home.

Chief Farrell said he spotted flames through the window of the garage of the raised-ranch residence.

Firefighters used a “couple hundred gallons” of water carried on a fire truck to extinguish the blaze, Chief Farrell said. Besides Hawleyville firefighters, personnel from Hook & Ladder, Sandy Hook, and Dodgingtown responded to the incident.

There were no vehicles in the garage at the time of the fire, Chief Farrell said.

Firefighters at the scene performed the tasks that they needed to accomplish, with the members of the several fire companies cooperating well to put out the fire, he said. Chief Farrell was incident commander at the scene.

Deputy Fire Marshal Rich Frampton, who investigated the fire, explained that an electrical problem in the basement-level garage caused the blaze.

Three people were at home when the fire occurred, he said. A smoke detector sounded, alerting them of a problem, he added.

The Kowaricks’ teenage son opened a door between the house and the garage, spotted the fire and then quickly shut the door, thus limiting the fire’s spread, Mr Frampton said. Firefighters were then called to the scene.

On his arrival, the two-bay garage was full of smoke, Mr Frampton said.

The garage received char damage in the blaze, as well as heavy smoke damage. Also, the living quarters received some smoke damage, Mr Frampton said.

The fire damaged the various contents of the garage, he said. The dollar value of the fire-related damage is yet undetermined, he said. The house is insured for damage, he said.

An electrician will be inspecting the structure for electrical damage, he added.