By Wayne Gates
Four families were chased from their home by a fire in Georgetown on August 25.
The building, located at the intersection of Second and Apple streets, contained four apartments where a total of 13 people lived, including a family of seven.
“The fire started in the back of the structure and burned up the back of the outside wall, to a deck on the second story then up into the eaves and then into the attic,” said Georgetown Fire Chief Joey Rockey.
He said the age of the building, construction materials used and the location of the fire all complicated matters for firefighters.
“Attic fires are very difficult to handle because you are dealing with a fire over your head. When that happens you are always dealing with the concern of structural collapse,” Rockey said.
The building is over 100 years old and consisted of concrete block walls and wood laid over thick plaster.
“You have to use a saw to get through that stuff. That means working with a fifty pound saw three feet over your head and those are some tough conditions. It’s probably 200-300 degrees in the room and a very difficult task to handle an attic fire in a building that big and that old,” Rockey said.
He added that one of the apartments sustained fire damage and the other three have water damage from firefighting efforts.
Rockey said that firefighters were on the scene in eight minutes and were lucky enough to have some extra help already in town.
“We were participating in an auto extrication drill with a number of local departments, so when the call came in, we all just immediately responded,” Rockey said.
Higginsport, Ripley, Mt. Orab, Hamersville, Byrd Township and two firefighters from Bethel were all present at the scene. Rockey said that the fire is still under investigation and that no cause or damage estimate is available yet.
The Red Cross is attending to the immediate needs of the residents, but local Georgetown Churches are looking to help out as well.
Scott Hennig, Worship Minister at the Georgetown Church of Christ said his church, along with the Baptist, Methodist and Nazarene churches, are working together to gather clothing, shoes and other needed items.
Hennig said that clothing, household items and monetary donations can be made at any of the local participating churches.
“There was a family of seven in one apartment, a family of three in another and then the other two apartments had single men in them,” Hennig said.
“We were on the scene of the fire and met a family of a mom, dad and five kids.”
Henning said that the family is in need of the following clothing items for:
-a newborn preemie baby boy
-an almost one year old boy size 12-18 months
-two girls, ages 5 & 6 who wear 6x (school clothes)
-a young boy wearing 10-12 clothing (school clothes)
-mom who wears 00 pants & XS shirts
-dad who wears large shirts
The family is also in need of a car seat for a preemie.
Hennig said that he is once again impressed with the generosity of his neighbors.
“I love the Georgetown community and how when there is a need, even though we don’t know the people involved, we just feel led to make a difference to help people out. We understand that a tragedy like this could happen to any of us and our obligation is to our fellow man,” Hennig said.
