Authorities say a house fire was believed to have started when a doghouse heater broke down during a blizzard was under control, only to burn up and destroy a rural South Dakota home
YANKTON, SD – Authorities say a house fire is believed to have started when a doghouse heater broke down during a snowstorm controlled Monday night, then flared up early Tuesday and destroyed a rural home in South Dakota.
The Yankton Fire Department said the electrical fire that started in the doghouse around 7 p.m. Monday engulfed a shed, spread to the side of the house and settled in the attic. The fire also burned through a propane line attached to a 125 gallon tank.
Firefighters were home for 2 1/2 hours Monday night and thought they had put out the fire, displacing four people and the dog, Deputy Chief and Fire Marshal Larry Nickles told the Yankton Press & Dakotan.
When Nickles left the scene, two rooms had suffered water damage and minor smoke damage was reported elsewhere, but the house was in good working order with the heating still on, he said. Firefighters poked holes in the house’s metal roof but may not have found all of the burning material, leading to the re-ignition Tuesday, the deputy chief said.
The house only had an insulated half-timbered space between the cathedral ceilings and the roof, which Nickles said was a factor in the flare-up. Firefighters were recalled at around 5:15 a.m. on Tuesday when flames shot from the roof. By then the storm had made the roof too slippery to walk on.
“Our estimate now is that the house was added,” said Nickles. “The dog is not happy that he lost his home, but there were no injuries.”