WASHINGTON - Volunteers from four fire companies responded to a two-story house fire late Thursday morning.
Washington Bottom, Blennerhassett, Lubeck and Little Hocking volunteers fire companies responded to Bonar Lane in Washington to battle the house fire.
Lubeck Volunteer Fire Department Chief Mark Stewart said crews were called out around 10:30 a.m. and arrived to find heavy smoke and flames coming out both stories of the house.
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A house is a total loss after it caught fire Thursday.
"We could see (smoke) from Lubeck when we left the firehouse," Stewart said.
The home's occupants, Sandy and Mitch Bonar, escaped the blaze unharmed.
Sandy Bonar was sitting at the computer and said she heard what sounded like a shotgun blast outside before the power went off. Bonar said she saw smoke coming from the computer and the television.
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Photos by Jody Murphy
A Washington house is a total loss after catching fire on Thursday.
"I thought we blew a fuse," she said.
According to Bonar, about 15 or 20 minutes later her brother Mitch Bonar discovered smoke coming from an electric blanket in a first-floor bedroom.
Mitch Bonar said he tried to put the fire out, but it grew quickly and the Bonars fled the house.
Neighbors said they heard a transformer blow and stepped outside to see what had happened. They saw the Bonars running out of their house with smoke behind them.
Bonar said he couldn't use water to put the out the fire. He said the house has a well and when the electric went out, there was no power to run its pump.
Stewart said crews had to run 1,200 feet of water line to the nearest water source to combat the fire. There was a red fire hydrant in the Bonar's yard, but crews quickly discovered it was a decoration.
Stewart said the fire got inside the walls, making it difficult to put out. It took crews about two hours to extinguish the blaze.
He said while the structure would remain standing, it was a total loss.
Stewart and Washington Bottom Lt. Ryan Goldsmith said the cause of the fire has yet-to-be determined. The Fire Investigation Team is investigating.
