EATON — An Eaton resident and his dog escaped safely after a fire engulfed their home on Debbie Drive on Tuesday, Sept. 22.
Frank Tinell and his dog were both home when the fire was first reported around 2:45 p.m, according to Eaton Fire & EMS Chief Brian Smith.
“Two bystanders and a sheriff’s deputy assisted in – the gentleman was wheelchair bound,” he said. “They assisted in getting him out of the home as our crews were arriving.”
The cause of the fire is currently undetermined, and while Chief Smith said the house was not a complete loss, it was close.
“Significant damage to the to the back of the building and there’s a partial roof collapse on the back side of the building as well where the fire moved through the void spaces in the attic.,” he said. “The house itself had been added on to at one point and there were numerous void spaces on the backside that led up to the second floor and the second floor attic space. So all of that pretty is much gone.”
Chief Smith said it took nearly 50 minutes to extinguish the fire due to those void spaces on the backside of the house and wind coming in from the west.
“The fire itself had already advanced into the attic spaces prior to our dispatch,” he said. “So, it took us a good amount of time to get a handle and get the fire knocked down in those void spaces.”
Eaton Fire & EMS received mutual aid from Gasper Township, Camden, and West Alexandria.
A fundraiser on GoFundMe for the Bev and Frank Tinell has already raised nearly $10,000 at time of press. Those looking to donate can do so at this link: https://rb.gy/i06zld.
