Two homes damaged in downtown Jeffersonville fire

Clark County

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February 2, 2010

Vacant house was a total loss, JFD official says

By DAVID A. MANN The News and Tribune Tue Feb 02, 2010, 07:52 PM EST

Flashing lights and flames lit up the evening sky and thick smoke drifted through downtown streets as firefighters battled blazes at two homes on the 200 block of Maple Street on Tuesday in Jeffersonville.

The fire occurred just after 5 p.m., the cause is unknown and no one was hurt. It took members of the Jeffersonville Fire Department more than an hour to bring the fire under control, as hot spots in the buildings’ upper floors repeatedly ignited, engulfing sections of the facades and roofs.

One house, which recently had been vacated, was a total loss, according to Maj. Jason Sharpe, spokesman for the department.

Stephanie Penn, who had rented the occupied house since August, said it took only minutes for the fire to fully engulf the vacant home. Within five minutes, it spread to her house and she and her husband began evacuating their children — a 1-year-old and a 3-year-old.

The family was the only one displaced by the fire, said Sharpe. The Clark County Chapter of American Red Cross was on hand to provide assistance.

Karen Pollard said her sister had been evicted from the vacant house within the last week. Pollard said the structure had bad wiring, there were holes in the floor and exposed pipes — not hidden behind walls — frequently froze.

The Evening News could not verify who owned the houses by press time, but both Penn and Pollard said both were owned by the same person. Despite 40-degree temperatures, the fire attracted a hundreds of spectators, who stuck around even after the fire was under control.

Cindy McCain, who lives down the street from the site of the fire, said she decided to come down after she heard the sirens about the same time a friend called her about it.

Police were on hand, assisting with crowd control. Parts of Maple and nearby Pearl streets were blocked off for a number of hours as the department worked to contain the blaze.