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Last updated on Wednesday, January 14, 2015
(MITCHELL) - Mitchell and Marion, Shawswick and Orange County Rural II Volunteer Fire Departments battled a house blaze at 805 West Grissom Avenue early this morning.
The home is owned by Zach and Lindsey Terrell. Zach is the son of former Mitchell Mayor Dan Terrell. When Dan heard the news he rushed to the scene.
Zach says he was asleep downstairs with his 14-year-old son Andrew, who is battling leukemia, when he woke to the odor of smoke. Lindsey was sleeping upstairs with the couple's 5-year-old son and baby girl. She too was woken up by the smoke.
"I grabbed the baby and my son and we were on our way down the stairs when I was met by Zach."
Zach says he rushed up the stairs and to help the others get out.
"When I went into my son's room and went to turn on the light, I saw a burn mark on the wall making me believe the fire was electrical in nature," Zach added. "We didn't waste any time the house was filling with smoke."
The family escaped unharmed.
When firefighters arrived at 3:14 a.m., the fire had spread to the multiple levels of the home, according to Mitchell VFD Assistant Chief Fred Cassidy.
Cassidy described the older home as a Louisiana-style building. Meaning there were no fire breaks in the construction of the home, which allowed for ventilation.
"So basically, every wall joist is open which allowed the fire to spread quickly from one level to another," says Orange County Rural District II Chief. "There was just nothing to stop the fire. You don't find many homes built like that now."
Cassidy says the home has extensive damage from fire, the extreme heat, water and smoke.
The cause of the fire is under investigation, but it believed to be electrical in nature.
Firefighters were on the scene until 6:30 a.m.
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