What could have been a difficult house fire to extinguish Thursday, June 10, due to extreme heat instead ended on a positive note for the Brainerd Fire Department.
Firefighters were called about 3:20 p.m. to a house fire on the 6700 block of Ojibwa Road in Unorganized Territory, north of Brainerd.
“When the fire department arrived the homeowner had most of the fire out with a garden hose,” Brainerd Fire Chief Tim Holmes stated in an email. “The quick actions of the homeowner saved the house from significant fire damage. The damage was contained to the exterior of the house.”
The fire started from a candle that tipped over, Holmes stated.
Firefighters ensured the fire had not made its way into the walls and that the fire was completely out.
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“We are thankful for the homeowner’s quick actions to control the fire. He did all the right things,” Holmes stated. “He checked the door before opening and discovered it was hot. If the door would have been opened the outcome would have been different.
“The extremely hot and humid temperatures would have made this very difficult and hard on our firefighters to fight.”
The National Weather Service in Duluth issued a heat advisory for the Brainerd lakes area in effect until 7 p.m. Thursday. It was 96 degrees when firefighters were paged, with a heat index of 99 degrees.
There were 18 firefighters who responded, but not all of them were on scene, as some stayed at the fire hall.
