An early morning fire on Sunday, Dec. 15, heavily damaged an Adrian home and left five people, including children, without a home, according to George Martin, Adrian Rural Fire District chief.
No one was injured in the fire that was reported at about 1:15 a.m. in the Ridgeview area of Adrian, which is about 20 miles south of the rural town, according to Chad Miller of the Adrian Quick Response Unit at the fire district.
Miller, who was first on the scene, said Adrian crews and firefighters from Homedale worked on the blaze until about 8:30 a.m. on Sunday.
Martin said the reported cause of the blaze was a chimney fire. He added that the fire report was incomplete and that an Oregon Department of the State Fire Marshal official would likely help with the investigation.
Miller said a call came in after someone in the home smelled smoke from the chimney. Miller said the couple, Carl and Michaelann Seiders, immediately got their three children out of the residence. Two of the children are in elementary school, while the other attends high school.
When he arrived, Miller said the owners were fighting the flames with a garden hose and buckets. He said the fire had moved into the home’s roof by that point.
Miller said fires are hard to put out once they get into the roof of a structure without direct tools that firefighters use to get to the flames.
The community is rallying to collect donations to help the family which lost everything a little more than a week before Christmas, according to Martin.
Those looking to donate can contact the Adrian High School office at 541-372-2335.
Miller said the family has been in touch with the American Red Cross.
When people lose everything in a fire, they typically are left only with what they are wearing and can carry as they head for the door.
“You have whatever you have on for the most part, and that’s what you got in the world,” Martin said. “Nobody’s ever really prepared for that when they go to sleep the night before.”
News tip? Send your information to Steven Mitchell at [email protected].
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