The Wichita Eagle
WICHITA, Kan. — Firefighters put out a house fire in the 1000 block of North Minnesota at around 5 a.m. on Monday and managed to save some Christmas presents, too.
Stuart Bevis, a battalion chief with the Wichita Fire Department, said four adults were in the house when the fire started. The fire department previously said one mother and two children were inside the house.
Bevis said when firefighters arrived, all four adults were outside, uninjured, with a significant fire visible on one side of the house.
He said the fire started in the attic of the home, above a utility room, because of overheated electrical wiring from too many space heaters.
One of the residents was getting ready for work when the smoke alarm went off. Before the smoke alarm went off, a breaker tripped.
“That’s a warning sign,” Bevis said. He added that when a breaker trips, especially unexpectedly, “you need to investigate what’s going on.”
He said the smoke alarm helped notify people to get out of the house in time to avoid injury.
Bevis estimated the fire caused about $30,000 of damage to the home’s structure and about $15,000 of damage to contents.
He said the residents won’t be able to stay in the home until repairs are made to the structure and the electrical wiring.
Firefighters declared the fire cleared by 7:20 a.m., according to dispatchers.
Bevis advised people to follow manufacturer’s instructions when using space heaters and to avoid plugging several in at one home, especially in older homes.
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