By Lucky Kidd
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Hutchinson firefighters were called to two structure fires over the weekend.
The first fire was reported at 5:18 AM Saturday at a residence in the 600 block of East Avenue A. Division Chief of Operations Jeremy Unruh said the first arriving units found heavy fire involvement on the back side of the 2 ½ story structure from ground to attic.
After encountering excessive storage conditions inside, firefighters went into defensive mode using aerial fire streams to put out the fire that extended through the knee walls of the attic space. The fire heavily damaged 70 percent of the home. Nobody was in the residence at the time, no firefighters were injured, and both adjoining homes were undamaged. The cause of the fire is under investigation by the HFD Fire Marshal.
The second fire was reported by a passer-by in a row apartment building in the 1200 block of North Severance. Chief Unruh said the first arriving unit found heavy fire and smoke pushing out all the windows of one apartment and venting from the attic over that apartment.
Fire crews started a fire attack and evacuated the other six apartments in the building. Heavy damage was sustained in that one apartment, with the apartments not affected. There were not any working smoke alarms or sprinkler systems in the structure.
The cause of that fire is also under investigation.
