FROM:
For Immediate Release:
On Monday morning, November 20, 2006, just after 9:30 AM the North Star
Volunteer Fire Department was dispatched to a reported structure fire at
North Star VFD firefighters and engines arrived on scene within 7 minutes
and found a 20 by 30 foot one story wood frame house with heavy black/brown
smoke showing throughout the house and a large volume of fire from the entire
area under the floor. A large pit had been dug under the building
possibly for some type of construction work, and there was a large berm of
sandy soil around the entire perimeter of the house making access to the under
floor area as well as the interior of the building very difficult.
Firefighters knocked down the fire under the floor area and attempted an
interior attack, however were unable to make progress against large volumes of
hidden fire and high heat and backed out of the building. A defensive
attack was made on the fire, opening the building up from the outside.
The fire was knocked down and firefighters again made an interior attack.
The fire was called out at 1:19 PM. Firefighters remained on
scene until 5:00 PM, checking for hot spots and working out problems with fire
engines due to the low temperatures of approx. -25 degrees F. Mutual Aid
assistance was provided by
The cause of the fire is undetermined at this time. The building
was heavily damaged by the fire, which according to FNSB property value records
is worth approximately $32,000. Combined with damage to the contents the
total damages are approx. $40,000. The home was occupied at the time of
the fire, and the occupant escaped without injuries. The owner has
insurance and was offered assistance by neighbors and the
