They arrived to find a fully involved fire, said Jefferson Twp. Fire Chief Gregory Wilcox. The cabin was made of old telephone poles.
“The individual on scene said it had not been in use for about 30 years,” Wilcox said. “He was burning vines and brush around it and caught the structure on fire.”
Dayton fire crews assisted Jefferson Twp. and firefighters were able to knock down the fire quickly.
The area does not have fire hydrants, so crews had to conserve water, Wilcox said. Firefighters were able to keep the fire from spreading to any neighboring structures.
No injuries were reported.
Wilcox reminded the public that there is a burn ban in place for unincorporated areas, including Jefferson Twp., in October, November, March, April and May.
“From 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. there’s to be no open burning at all,” he said. “In the evening, when you are permitted to burn, you need clean burning materials.”
Manmade objects such as plastics, rubber, asphalt and shingles are not allowed to be burned.
“Basically, if it produces a black smoke it’s illegal,” Wilcox said.
The cabin fire shows how quickly a fire can spread, he added.
“It’s the same thing with embers going up in the air and then going down, dropping on someone’s home or someone’s field where there’s a lot of leaves and debris on the ground,” Wilcox said. “It can start and spread very quickly.”
As colder weather approaches the chief said it’s typical to see vacant structure fires.
“A lot of things that are empty that are not secured have people inside that don’t own it or don’t belong there,” he said.
Sometimes people will start fires to stay warm in vacant structures and the fire will get out of control.
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