When crews arrived, they found heavy fire coming from the garage and a significant amount of smoke. There were also several fireworks that were still going off that could be heard inside the garage, King said.
“The explosions from the fireworks helped increase the intensity of the fire, which helped it spread, as well as it’s throwing articles that are on fire, which speeds up the progression of the fire. From that, the other pieces that made it difficult was weather — hot and humid — it takes more time for crews to rehydrate, rehabilitate, get back into it, to rotate back in to combat the fire,” King said Wednesday.
King said since the fire had a “head start” on crews arriving, it was well involved. He said the house was not a total loss but was severely damaged, along with the detached garage on the property.
The remaining fireworks that were found inside the garage that had not exploded were safely disposed Wednesday in conjunction with the Clark County Sheriff’s Office, the Dayton Regional Bomb Squad and State Fire Marshal’s Office.
The homeowner was believed to be the only one inside the home when the fire broke out, King said. He had minor injuries that were evaluated on scene by medics and declined to be taken to a hospital.
Credit: Bill Lackey
Credit: Bill Lackey
According to incident report, the offenses listed include aggravated arson, unauthorized use/sell fireworks, manufacturing without a license and inducing panic.
King said he’s not sure if the fireworks inside the garage were illegal or if the homeowner will face any charges at this time as the incident remains under investigation by the State Fire Marshal and sheriff’s offices. If there are any charges, King said they will be presented and approved by the county prosecutor.
The area has not seen any type of fire caused by fireworks like this one, King said.
“Here in our district we’ve seen a few, but they were small grass fires, nothing of any significance as we saw on Saturday... the amount of fire and the amount of fireworks that were on that location,” he said.
Nationwide, the National Fire Prevention Association says there are nearly 19,500 fires caused by fireworks each year, including houses, vehicles or property.
“Fireworks are pretty dangerous,” King said. “They should be handled with care and should only be used under the supervision of parents or a licensed exhibitor to present those fireworks.”
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