Swift Action Prevents Garage Fire From Becoming House Fire

By Andrew Gorosko

Quick action by a resident, coupled with a swift response by local firefighters, combined to limit the extent of damage stemming from an accidental garage fire that occurred on the afternoon of Thursday, March 12, at a Meadowbrook Road home in Botsford.

Fire Marshal Bill Halstead said that Edward Wieczorek of 24 Meadowbrook Road discovered a fire underway in his two-bay garage on his return home from errands. Mr Wieczorek used water from a garden hose to keep the blaze from spreading.

Firefighters were called to the scene at 1:46 pm and then doused the fire with the water carried on a fire truck, explained Botsford Fire Chief Wayne Ciaccia. There were no injuries, he said.

Botsford, Sandy Hook, Hook & Ladder, and Dodgingtown firefighters responded to the call. Hawleyville firefighters were placed on standby status. About 30 firefighters went to the scene, Chief Ciaccia said.

The fire was contained to the interior of the garage that is attached to a Colonial-style house that is set well back from Meadowbrook Road, Chief Ciaccia said. There were no vehicles in the garage when the fire was discovered, he said. The house remains habitable, he added.

“It was a good [firefighting] response. Everything worked out pretty well…We got there quick and we had a real good response,” he said.

Mr Halstead said that Mr Wieczorek had used his house’s fireplace the night before. The resident later cleaned out the ashes from the fireplace before placing them in paper bag, Mr Halstead said. Believing the ashes to be out, he left the bag of ashes in the garage before leaving the house to do some errands, the fire marshal said.

On returning home, Mr Wieczorek saw some smoke coming from the closed garage and realized that the garage was afire, the fire marshal said.

Damage caused by the fire will require the garage’s interior to be replaced, including wallboard, Mr Halstead said. He estimated the damage repair costs at $25,000 to $30,000. The house is insured, he said.

The fire also caused some smoke damage in the attached house, he said. The fire itself damaged a wooden landing in the garage and some garage contents.

On arriving at the scene, firefighters needed to open up the wallboard in the garage to investigate the extent of the fire, Mr Halstead said.

“We saved the house, which is the important thing,” Mr Halstead said of firefighters’ quick action which prevented the blaze from spreading to the house, which is physically connected to the garage.

Mr Halstead credited Mr Wieczorek for quickly starting to fight the fire with water from a garden hose after discovering it. That action kept the blaze in check until firefighters arrived, the fire marshal said.