Garrison firefighters were able to save a rambler home from being destroyed by fire during the early morning hours on Saturday.
The Garrison Fire Department was called at 3:32 a.m. to a structure fire on the 25000 block of Highway 18 in Bay Lake Township, located about 4 miles west of Garrison.
Garrison Fire Assistant Chief Bruce Breun said six Garrison firefighters were able to respond quickly to fight the fire on their own with no mutual aid from other area fire agencies.
"When we arrived on scene we saw flames blaring over the roof on the back corner of the house," Breun said. "We were able to knock it down fast and contain the fire to the one bedroom."
Breun said two adults with two children were able to get out of the house safely. They called 911 and at the time the house was full of smoke, Breun said. He said the fire spread quickly through the inside wall, up the bedroom wall into the soffits.
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Breun said it appears the cause of the fire was a space heater located in the crawl space under the bedroom.
"I want to encourage people who use space heaters to not use them with an extension cord," Breun said. "Space heaters are not designed to be run off of extension cords, they will overheat if you do use them."
Breun said there was smoke and fire damage to the bedroom only, and the rest of the house had some smoke damage but is livable. Breun said the family went to stay with a relative for the night.
Breun said he is impressed as "anytime we get to save a house it is good because typically the homes are so far away and by the time we get there it is too late.
"We had six firefighters and this was one of the most efficient operations we have had and we saved the house."
The Crow Wing County Sheriff's Office assisted at the scene.
