Blaze engulfs two-story home on Cherry Street

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Published 8:51 pm Tuesday, May 1, 2018

By Brandon O'Connor

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FIRE FIGHTING: A Vicksburg firefighter stands on a second-floor balcony as flames break through a door Tuesday night.

A home in the 2400 block of Cherry Street was deemed a total loss after a fire broke out Tuesday evening.

Several Vicksburg Fire Department units and first responders received a call that the two-story home, which was built in the 1880s, was on fire around 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Brian Patterson, who lives adjacent to the impacted home, said there were sparks coming from an outside circuit box before the entire structure caught fire.

“We were like fire, fire call 911 and ran over here and saw the sparks and stuff flying from the panel around back,” Patterson said. “All the neighbors were coming here by then and the fire trucks, and they started fighting the fire. It is kind of sad. I don’t even know him and it strikes home. It could be anybody.”

When crews arrived on scene there were flames and smoke coming from the attic area of the home. Capt. Charles Greer said a team entered the structure after they saw what appeared to be a person standing at the second floor window. They entered the building from the second floor balcony, which is accessible via an exterior staircase, and began attacking the fire.

Greer said they did not locate a person, and there is not believed to have been anyone inside the home when the fire started, but there was a pet unaccounted for.

The owner, Peter Meyers, was at church when the fire started and he confirmed his dog was inside at the time the fire started.

“I dropped everything and ran. I came down the highway at 90 miles an hour and am glad I didn’t get a ticket,” Meyers said. “I am mostly worried about my dog. They didn’t get her out. She was up in the front room.”

Greer said when they entered the house, the attic was fully involved and they were able to extinguish parts of it, but the direction of the fire changed as it traveled through the attic and encircled the units blocking the door they entered through and putting fire at their backs.

“You go full fog and protect yourself and your team,” Greer said of their reaction to being surrounded by flames.

Greer and his team switched to a defensive spray with their hoses and were able to fight their way back down the interior staircase and exit through the front door of the house as a second team of firefighters fought through the balcony door where they originally entered. No firefighters were injured.

“By talking to them on the radio and bringing in another team we were able to extinguish the fire behind them, get them out and reposition defensively,” VFD Fire Chief Craig Danczyk said, adding that fighting the fire defensively can lead to more property loss, but it was their only option at that point.

The overhead power lines and overhanging trees limited VFD’s ability to use their aerial units, Danczyk said, but they were able to use their largest platform truck to attack the fire from above.

Once the fire broke through the roof, units began attacking from three sides of the building and from above, using what Danczyk said was 100 percent of the available water.

“It is a total loss, but we anticipate getting it under control,” Danczyk said Tuesday evening. “It is still possible the dog could be saved if it got to a lower level in an area with less smoke and fire.”

The official cause of the fire was unknown as of Tuesday night as units continued to battle some areas with flames and hot spots throughout the house. Once the fire is completely extinguished, a fire investigator will be brought in to determine how it started, Danczyk said.