COLUMBUS, Ind. – Columbus Fire Department (CFD) investigators are calling a house fire on Hughes Street accidental after an electrical malfunction caused the blaze. The owner of the home managed to escape uninjured but the residence sustained significant damage.
At about 10:25 p.m. on Friday, CFD was called to 11 N. Hughes St. When firefighters arrived, they saw fire and smoke coming from the front porch window.
The Columbus Police Department made contact with the owner of the property, Curtis Miller, who had fled to a neighboring home, per CFD’s Capt. Mike Wilson. Miller said no one else was inside.
Crews entered the house and found heavy flames in the living room. They applied water and the fire was under control within 10 minutes of the firefighter’s arrival.
Miller said he was watching TV in a bedroom when he heard a noise coming from the front of the home and saw a glow of flames. He left from a rear exit, ran to a neighbor’s house, and called 9-1-1.
Fire investigators learned that earlier in the evening, the homeowner had moved a portable fireplace heating appliance from a room at the rear of the home to the home’s living room. Miller stated that he plugged the device into a floor-mounted electrical receptacle without incident. Investigators focused their attention on the fireplace heating device and the electrical receptacle when they found evidence of electrical arcing within the receptacle.
The cause of the fire was determined to be accidental due to an electrical malfunction. CFD said that the electrical draw from the device may have caused the receptacle to short out and contributed to the development of the fire.
Damages to the home are estimated at $50,000. Miller said that we would be temporarily staying with neighbors. No working smoke alarms were located in the home during the course of the investigation.
The Columbus Fire Department can provide assistance to residents with the installation of a working smoke alarm. For more information on the CFD smoke alarm program, call 812-376-2679.
