Motorcycle May Be Source Of House FireMarch 28, 2005, 05:17 PM EST Email to a Friend Printer Friendly Version New Media Producer: Kerry CorumAn Evansville home is heavily damaged by fire Thursday night. It happened around 8:00, on East Oregon Street near Garvin Park. Firefighters believe the fire started when fumes from a motorcycle kept inside the house, ignited with the pilot light of the water heater. A husband, wife and child were in the home at the time but were not hurt. There is heavy damage to the two floors of the home and the finished attic.
Motorcycle likely culprit in house fireBy SANDI LYNN BROWNStaff Writer Yesterday's steady downpour failed to douse a late-afternoon fire that heavily damaged a house in East Hanover Township. It appeared the fire was started by a motorcycle running in the house's lower-level garage. The cause of the blaze is still under investigation, but it has been determined that the fire started about 5 p.m. in the garage of the bi-level home, Ono Fire Co. Chief Matt Hetrick said yesterday. Damage to the home and contents was estimated to be at least $200,000, he said. The house at 76 Shirk's Church Road is owned by Bradley and Edna Jenkins. Neither was injured by the blaze. About an hour after the fire started, Edna Jenkins stood in her yard with the couple's dog, Sebastian, an 8-year-old Newfoundland. The rain had stopped for the moment, but smoke continued to pour out of the house. While firefighters worked around her, Jenkins called family members and friends on a cell phone to give them the bad news. "You're not going to believe it!" she said during one call. "Our house is on fire." Edna Jenkins was working in Hershey when her husband called with the news. She is employed by Hershey Entertainment and Resorts Co. Bradley Jenkins was at home when the fire started. He said he had gone to the garage and started his motorcycle, a routine he said he performs often during the winter months to keep the bike's battery charged. Jenkins said he opened the garage door, left the motorcycle running and went inside the house. When he returned, he was shocked by what he found. "When I came back, it was in flames," he said. "The motorcycle was fully inflamed." He attempted to call 911, but the phone would not work, he said. He then grabbed Sebastian and left the house through the front door. He immediately met some neighbors in his front yard. One of the neighbors had called 911. "Basically, I sat down and watched my house burn until the fire department got here," Jenkins said. Hetrick, who lives a half-mile away, said he was the first to arrive at the scene, just before a crew from the Fort Indiantown Gap Fire Department. "The eastern portion of the house was fully engulfed," Hetrick said. "The house was 50 percent involved on my arrival." That end of the house has the one-car garage on the lower level and two bedrooms above it. Hetrick said the rest of the house sustained heat and smoke damage. Hetrick said finding water to fight the fire in this rural part of the township was difficult, which led to a third-alarm call for tankers. Firefighters were able to get water from the Swatara Creek about a half-mile away, he said. Another concern was gunpowder -- Jenkins loads his own shotgun shells -- and propane tanks stored in the house, Hetrick said. The firefighters were able to "knock down" the fire quickly and move the tanks out of the house, he said. Some of the ammunition went off during the early stages of the fire, but there were no further problems once firefighters got the blaze under control, Hetrick said. Edna Jenkins said the couple would probably stay at her mother's home in the Jonestown area for the time being. Assisting at the scene were fire companies from Jonestown's Perseverance, Palmyra's Citizens, Bellegrove, Union Water Works, Campbelltown, Lickdale, Mt. Gretna, Grantville, Mt. Zion and Bunker Hill fire companies. University Hospital ambulance also responded.
The fumes were not a problem since we had a window fan running 24/7... for other reasons
Topic: Do you run your bike in the garage? (Read 3283 times)