2008 Woodie Awards
Fire inspector unable to find cause of blaze
Chau Nguyen
Issue date: 4/15/08 Section: Front Page
An investigation into the cause of an Oxford house fire concluded that the origin of the March 26 blaze was "undetermined."
According to Oxford Fire Chief Len Endress, a fire inspector from the insurance company examined damages caused at 115 Homestead Ave. April 2 and could not identify the origins of the fire.
"It's very rare that you can't find the cause, but occasionally that happens," Endress said. "In this case, the inspector wasn't 100 percent sure about what caused the fire."
Endress said there had been initial speculation about wiring near the doorbell causing the fire, which was nullified during the inspection.
"Someone talked about it being a doorbell problem, but there was only the low voltage wiring for the doorbell," Endress said. "The inspector also looked at all the openings to see if perhaps an animal had carried a cigarette into the house, but all the openings were closed up."
Bob Blackburn, the property's landlord, said he is currently waiting to see what the insurance company, Beaton Insurance Agency, LLC, wants to do next.
"Insurance companies take different stances on situations and you have to go along with what's out there," Blackburn said. "So far, this one has been OK."
According to Holly Bruder, a Beaton agent, the insurance company is moving forward with the claims process.
"To my knowledge, the insurance company is going to pay for the claim and is in the process of making arrangements with Mr. Blackburn for repairs," Bruder said.
Blackburn said he is waiting to hear from the insurance company regarding what will be replaced and repaired.
According to Endress, the fire department placed the damages at $40,000 with $35,000 accounting for building damage and $5,000 for the damage of contents inside the house.
"The biggest problem was that we had to take so much of the drywall down to put the fire out," he said. "Three-fourths of the roof rafter themselves was either burnt through or scorched. Because the fire was in the insulation, certain parts of the roof were on fire where the rafters met the dry wall."
Endress said scorching was visible in the living room and front bedroom when the department first arrived on the scene.
Despite content damage, no injuries resulted from the fire, which Blackburn said is crucial.
"The most important thing is that no one was hurt," Blackburn said. "You can replace wood and windows-what needs to be replaced-but you can't replace people."
According to Endress, citing the cause of the fire as "undetermined" allows it to be changed should additional information surface at a later date.
According to Oxford Fire Chief Len Endress, a fire inspector from the insurance company examined damages caused at 115 Homestead Ave. April 2 and could not identify the origins of the fire.
"It's very rare that you can't find the cause, but occasionally that happens," Endress said. "In this case, the inspector wasn't 100 percent sure about what caused the fire."
Endress said there had been initial speculation about wiring near the doorbell causing the fire, which was nullified during the inspection.
"Someone talked about it being a doorbell problem, but there was only the low voltage wiring for the doorbell," Endress said. "The inspector also looked at all the openings to see if perhaps an animal had carried a cigarette into the house, but all the openings were closed up."
Bob Blackburn, the property's landlord, said he is currently waiting to see what the insurance company, Beaton Insurance Agency, LLC, wants to do next.
"Insurance companies take different stances on situations and you have to go along with what's out there," Blackburn said. "So far, this one has been OK."
According to Holly Bruder, a Beaton agent, the insurance company is moving forward with the claims process.
"To my knowledge, the insurance company is going to pay for the claim and is in the process of making arrangements with Mr. Blackburn for repairs," Bruder said.
Blackburn said he is waiting to hear from the insurance company regarding what will be replaced and repaired.
According to Endress, the fire department placed the damages at $40,000 with $35,000 accounting for building damage and $5,000 for the damage of contents inside the house.
"The biggest problem was that we had to take so much of the drywall down to put the fire out," he said. "Three-fourths of the roof rafter themselves was either burnt through or scorched. Because the fire was in the insulation, certain parts of the roof were on fire where the rafters met the dry wall."
Endress said scorching was visible in the living room and front bedroom when the department first arrived on the scene.
Despite content damage, no injuries resulted from the fire, which Blackburn said is crucial.
"The most important thing is that no one was hurt," Blackburn said. "You can replace wood and windows-what needs to be replaced-but you can't replace people."
According to Endress, citing the cause of the fire as "undetermined" allows it to be changed should additional information surface at a later date.
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