A Wednesday night fire destroys a home northwest of Scottsbluff and displaces a husband & wife and their three children.
Scottsbluff Rural Fire Chief Paul Reisig says his crews received the call at 9:40 p.m. for a structure fire on County Road 20 near Experiment Farm Road. When firefighters arrived on scene, the house was 25 percent involved. Fortunately, the family was able to escape the home unscathed.
Mutual aid from Gering, Minatare and Mitchell responded to the scene, with a total of about 30 personnel helping to combat the fire. Reisig says crews were on scene until 4 a.m. Thursday.
Deputy Fire Marshal Ryan Sylvester was called up from Ogallala, and determined the cause of the fire to be a propane gas heater that was on the porch.
Estimated damage to the home was $240,000 and additional $50,000 for its contents. Firefighter Ministry is assisting the family in the wake of the blaze.
Reisig says one firefighter suffered a slight injury after straining their arm, and will be checked out later today.
He adds that now that the weather is getting colder, it’s important to remember taking extra fire safety precautions.
“You know it is that time of the year, it’s fall and we are using heaters, auxiliary heaters and other things,” says Reisig. “But we do have to set them up carefully, away from combustibles and other things. They’re wonderful additions, we all use them, but we have to be careful with them.”
